Unique

Two Dancers (Study for Rouge et Noir) - Henri Matisse, 1938

Standing Out in a Crowd

“It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everyone else.” ~Henri Matisse

Such a challenge to stand out in a crowd…

Sometimes you want to, but sometimes it’s hard,

but always stand up…stand up and be proud.

And if some put you down, please don’t feel cowed:

Just let yourself go.  All put-downs are barred.

Such a challenge to stand out in a crowd…

You are who you are:  Feel good.  It’s allowed.

To all the haters say, “You?  Disregard!”

But always stand up…stand up and be proud.

Consider:  you’re gifted, and you’re endowed.

Secretly, you hold the winning trump card.

Such a challenge to stand out in a crowd…

Let this be your anthem…banish that cloud

and find what is good.  The rest?  Just discard.

But always stand up…stand up and be proud.

Matisse painted ‘different’, but he was unbowed.

He brandished his paintbrush and shouted, “En garde!”

Such a challenge to stand out in a crowd…

but always stand up…stand up and be proud.

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Notes:  The form is Villanelle.  The poem was inspired by the prompt of 'unique' from Poets United Thursday Think Tank.  I wanted to find a quote about uniqueness, and when I read the (above) one by Matisse, I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to say.

Now - a couple of other things:  first, I am taking part in the January 2012 River of Stones, but so far, I've just been posting my 'stones' (little philosophical and observational writings) over at Writing Our Way Home.  It's a very cool concept, so if you haven't already seen it, by all means, check it out.  I may start posting my 'stones' here on Lightverse during January, too.  

Finally, I am very fortunate to be a part of an insanely talented group of poets who managed to find each other at the Poetic Asides community.  Late last year, we got together and created an anthology called Prompted, which has its basis in some of the prompts from PA.  I have three poems in this amazing collection.  Prompted is available on Amazon, and here's the best part - all the proceeds from the sale of the book benefit LitWord, an international literacy organization.

Stand up and be proud.