I'll Be In The Corner

The corner. That’s where I’ll be. Other people might be dancing and laughing, but that’s not what I’ll be doing; I’ll be in the corner, by myself. I don’t need other people to have a good time. I just need a corner and myself because I know that I won’t be me if I go out there. I’ll be a light covered by a shadow. Alone. If I’m alone, then I won’t be judged. I won’t have to force a smile or laugh because no one will be watching. No eyes on me in my corner. No one will try to critique me and make me feel like I should be someone else. They smother the light like a lid over a candle. Slowly smothering what’s there, until nothing is left.

Don’t bother the corner because that’s where I’ll be. You might be a different person outside your corner, but that’s okay because it’s the one place where you are face to face with no one behind or next to you. You are looking at the person you are talking to, only you are in the corner. Everybody sees you as nobody because you are in the corner, but you see yourself as somebody, and that’s all that matters. You don’t smile in a crowd but smile to yourself. You smile to yourself because you know you are not faking it, and you know you won’t have to pretend like you’re having fun. You don’t have to force yourself to stand in the rain and act like you’re not getting wet. If somebody comes up to you and tries to bring you out of your corner, you simply shake your head. You don’t want to leave your safe place, and you don’t want to be seen. You don’t want to be the center of attention. You are the last to enter the room, never the first. You are the runt, the one that no one cares about, but it’s fine, you like not being seen, and you like being in the dark.

Your safe place, the place where it is you and only you. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, and you don’t have to leave your corner because you may never go back if you do. People may say you're shy and talk about you, but it won’t matter because you are you. People may think you’re something else, but you know who you are, and they will see you as you too when they find their corner. Where they are themselves, don’t hide behind a shadow. Don’t try to force the light out of a dead light bulb. If you need me, I’ll be in my corner being me.