a poem about atoms (and other things)

stability.
balance.
these are the things we
are taught to search for in
the world.

every living creature, every
organism is living in
want for those things.
an atom wants to have
a neutral charge,
and humans want a nice
house at the end
of the cul-de-sac.

how must we look to other
species? spending a lifetime
searching for something
to make us just the same 
as the rest.

they say "you'll understand
when you are older", but 
i don't want to understand.
is that so hard to imagine?

my science teacher told me
that everything wants to be 
balanced. 
an atom doesn't want 
a positive or negative charge.
a human doesn't want spontaneity,
they want a good life, 
a boring life lived out
in the most boring town
they can find because
it keeps them safe.

they stay on the road,
they paint the picture they 
are told to because
it keeps everything the same,
it keeps the cycle going.

and when someone doesn't
listen, when they drive off
of the road, when they put
the paintbrush down, asking
for a reason to keep
going, we pity them, we call
it a tragedy.

how could they have gone wrong?
how do you mess it up
when everything is layed out
in front of you?

it's easier to be normal.
it's easier to be normal, 
they tell us.
and it's true.

it has always been so much
easier to pretend that
we want that life.
it doesn't exhaust you to
live the same life
that millions before you
have lived as well.

it's easier to stare out of
the window and imagine all
the things you could have
done instead of doing them.

i want it to be easier.