Solitary
* * *
We are normal: a duet

Would you please
Lend me food?
I am hungry.
 
  We do not know you.
You are alien.
You are not welcome.
We are normal.
Can I please
Share your water?
I am thirsty.
 
  We own the water.
You are strange.
You cannot have any.
We are normal.
Will you then
Share your fire?
I am cold.
 
  We need all the warmth.
You are other.
You must go away.
We are normal.
Is it too much to ask,
To be able to live,
To be able to be?
 
  We don't like your kind.
You are different.
You make us think too much.
We are normal.
But all I want is
To live in peace,
To be happy.
 
  You have no right to be happy.
You offend us.
You hurt us by existing.
We are normal.
I know how to love,
How to care,
How to hurt.
 
  You are not one of us.
You don't belong.
We want you to die.
We are normal.

--Robyn Elaine Serven
--June, 1994