Neurodivergent

There is no parade for us

I am relieved

I sit and grieve

No public display

I'm not outted

Not doubted

Invisibly different

My 9 to 5's intact

Keep up the act

Hoping they won't see

Grasping at sanity

Desperate to just be me

Longing to be free

The mold is tight

Cut off parts of me

Bleed into it

Knowing that I'll never truly fit

Normal pass

House of glass

Don't misstep

Don't miss a thing

Constant processing

An eyebrow tick...a smile

Pull the file

Review each example

Compare them to the sample

Respond instantly

Hope they do not see

Reply, read, repeat

Never miss a beat

Panic builds...is it over yet?

No one else broke a sweat

Translating each micro cue

To respond as fluently as they do

Striving for 90 percent

Praying no one sees I'm spent

Geeky, quirky, sure...that's fine

I'll claim those labels as mine

But behind grand masquerades

Is a fear that never fades

In an instant I'll do something wrong

They'll find out I don't belong

Unloved, unwanted, and alone

Facing horrors on my own

Exhaustion is my brick wall

It forces me to withdraw

No amount of therapy

Could ever make me not me

My brain's built differently

It makes connections constantly

A small idea quickly grows

Creativity naturally flows

Hyper-wired overdrive

Mixing with the thought archive

Sometimes things are just too much

Static, shirt tags, crowds, and such

I don't think the way you do

But I laugh and cry like you

Maybe more, maybe less

Sometimes it's a jumbled mess

But there's a simple beauty

In nature's great variety

Neurodiversity paves a way

I step toward the breaking day

Proud to be beautiful me

Then I worry what they'll see

Angst builds--confidence shrinks

I know what society thinks

I am problem to be fixed

I wish that we had a parade

Flood the streets, drop the charade

Supported...seen...accepted

Given permission to be me

Step into the light for all to see

Perfectly worthy as I am