Outsider
When the door's always closed
Isolation imposed
I try the best I can

But the gulf is too wide
And I can't stand astride
Such a gigantic span

This impossible distance
Obscures my existence
Like fog hugging autumn shores

And it's building inside
With each wound to my pride
I can't take this anymore

I'm standing right here
I've not disappeared
And yet you look right through me

Do I not exist?
A presence unmissed
An unseen identity
I'm on the outside
Looking inward
These impenetrable walls restrain me
I could tear them down
But I'm afraid
Of what is on the other side

It’s not my intention
To covet attention
At least no more than I'm due

But you turned your back
And left me in the black
With nothing I could cling to

Was it too much to ask
Such an abhorrent task
To simply acknowledge me?

Some small recognition
To raze this partition
That makes me feel so empty

I'm on the outside
Looking inward
These impenetrable walls restrain me
I could tear them down
But I'm afraid
Of what is on the other side
I'm at the point I might break
Alone and displaced
An unwelcome nobody

I'm a vessel adrift
Traversing the rift
Consumed by an angry sea

Pushed aside by the crowd
And I'm screaming out loud
Until my voice is raw

But I won't go away
From this perverse ballet
As long as I've breath to draw

I'm on the outside
Looking inward
These impenetrable walls restrain me
I could tear them down
But I'm afraid
Of what is on the other side