We forget that Independence is an unflattering trait
But an essential one nonetheless
Those truly Independent
Are those who don’t listen
Who realize that we are all
Nervous
Anxious
Frightened by failures and shame
Those truly Independent
Are those who don’t waiver
Who realize that life is full of
Failure
and Shame
Full of those steering you astray
Whether they mean to or not
We are truly Independent
When the words of others
Flow off us like mist
When the sharpened arrows of
Loved Ones
and Enemies alike
bounce off our skin
without drawing blood
or change
or reaction
We are all the Idiot
filled with
Sound and Fury
Signifying Nothing
Saying
Nothing
and those truly Independent
are those who don’t listen
Oren Peleg 2010