Don't Ask Me To Stand Out

By Mahati Shiralkar

don’t ask me to stand out,

don’t you dare.

you’re acting all sweet but i sense it when-

you wonder why i’m not as thin as you,

you ponder on why i’m a boy and only five feet two,

and you muse on why my nails aren’t the right shade of honeydew.

yet you have the nerves to say,

“you’ll fit in, anyway.”

no, i will never.

i’ll always be one hue, one colour wrong,

i’ll forever be short by an inch or i’ll be a centimetre too long,

and i’ll be stuck with my crooked, wonky nose,

till my last breath, i suppose.

but still, outrageously, you lie,

saying i'll fit in just fine.

but little do you know how it feels to stand out,

when you’re the one fitting in, without a doubt.

By Mahati Shiralkar