Stand OUT

Smart
Smarter
Smartest
That’s all they care about in this test
Your Creativity doesn’t matter
Your Hardwork doesn’t matter
the Blood sweat and tears you put in doesn’t matter
It’s all about the score in the end
This toxic cycle of making us believe
Believe this is what we have to do to fit in
Fit in with society
Fit in with the crowd
Fit into the jigsaw puzzle
When you’re your very own work of art
For how long does this go on
For how long does this cycle go on
This cycle of blending us all together as one
Until we’re broken and bleeding pieces
Working together in blurred masses
Towards a goal that was never ours
Stop
Make it all stop
Stop making us believe we’re jigsaw pieces
Stop making us believe that we’ve got no choice
No voice
That we cannot be a counterpoise
That we’re nothing more than a mere small voice
Stop making us believe we aren’t our own masterpieces
Stop making us believe that we’ve got to fit in
When we were born to stand out

Likhita Makam is a 15-year-old Indo-American high school student living in India. She has been published in youth newspapers and literary magazines. She’s an avid reader and is up for a poetry discussion at all times. She hopes to inspire people of all ages with her words.