Sinéad
To a paragon of inner truth
Sinéad
What’s it like, Sinéad?
To know you’re right
when everyone
says you’re wrong
What’s it like not to cave?
To stand true to
you?
Without regret
Without question
What’s it like to
be a pariah
and wear it
on your sleeve
like a badge of
honor?
What’s it like to
know yourself
so clearly
so resolutely
and not give
one single fig what
anyone
else
thinks?
What’s it like to
contrast your own
sense of worthiness
with all the lies
the world tells?
What’s it like to
own yourself so
completely?
I know it wasn’t
easy.
I know it couldn’t
have been fun.
At least
not all the time.
But you never flinched.
You never looked back.
You had the clearest
vision of yourself
and what you were here for.
Far more than most of us do.
Certainly more than I do.
It seems so easy
to cave to the “wisdom”
of the crowd.
It’s what “everyone” does
after all
so why not?
But caving is
HARD.
Caving is betrayal.
Caving takes us
So far from ourselves.
So far from the truth.
To a place that is
defined by the
pain of inconsistency
The anguish of knowing
that we’ve abandoned
ourselves
to make sure
no one else did
Sinéad O’Connor with the Chieftains: The Foggy Dew
But the only ones
we really have
are ourselves.
What’s it like, Sinéad,
to fend off the
slings and arrows
of public opinion
So you can own
yourself instead?
So you can have
your own back?
No matter what
anyone
else
says?
There may still
be pain
There may still
be agony and
heartache
and fear.
But you always
knew who you
were
And no one could
take that away.
Nancy Norbeck
26 July 2023