I’m Like Me

I don’t have to laugh while the whole world is laughing.

And I can blow on my ice cream because it’s too cold.

Because I’m Jake.

And whether I repeat it in a mantra or express it aloud, “I’m like me. I’m not like everybody else.”

And that’s okay.

Sometimes I look for examples and don’t find them.

Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, maybe I’m looking too hard.

I desperately want to find those mirrors, that glimmer in the eyes.

And then my focus diffuses and those glimmers appear.

In how we bond over potato pizza.

And how we feel awkward when we hold the door open for way too many people.

Kindred spirits in the smallest of ways.

Because I get the message hidden by the messenger, hidden right behind my eyes.

We are all different and we are all the same.

All scared.

All brave.

All wanting to fit in.

All individuals.

For you are like you in all your wonderful and cringy ways.

And I’ll still stop for worms on the sidewalk.

It just might not be lost on you.