if

if i were here or there
in the completeness
of happiness
or crying in little heaps on the floor
like some women these days,
perhaps, even falling into the roles of society
(that horrid beast)
and whining for things that
cannot possibly be obtained,
i think i should be normal.

if significant things were men
and what to wear and how to speak
or who should be my friends
or not
and if i was concerned about whom
i should impress, i think i would be
that most content way to live-
naive and shallow and basically ignorant
of all that matters
and i think i should be normal.

if i was not creative and independent
and a lover of knowledge-
if i were someone who cared
what people think
or dressed to suit a certain person
and talked and moved and lived
for who people want me to be,
i think i should be
extremely bored.