I remember in middle school

how I won

everything

and the year before that, I defeated the entire 6th grade class

in reading.

It’s sad to see the quarterback of the football team

at the 20-year high school reunion

drunk off his ass

and unable to hold down a job.

What shapes us?

What forms our personalities?

In-born genetic characteristics

produce clusters of traits, such as charisma

that get expressed under stress

or remain recessive.

I seem to be conservative and introverted

My friend is extroverted, which means he has a propensity to smoke cigarettes

and he has flirted with those coffin nails

due to his need for stimulation.

I can get kicked like a dog

and smile.

I have been on-top of the human heap

for moments

knowing…

I don’t need to be there.

People treat me well

and terrible

but I am indifferent to their love.

Again, when I was in middle school

a dad, told my sister

“Your brother is tough.”

He was a Green Beret,

so he knew what he was talking about,

but I have also been called weak

because there’s a lot of ignorance out there.

Most people don’t see the full picture

they only see

what they want to see.

You may not have the full personality

but it’s at those imbalanced regions

where your force is

strongest.

I delight in my oblong

nature.

I am the master of my fate

the captain of my

asteroid

hurdling through space

ready to make an impact.

I am so much more

than what has happened to me.