Will you too shun me?

By Njonjo Mue

When I choose to swim upstream
To question everything given me
When I prefer to hold onto nothing
In order to have all things
When I refuse to fit the mould
That they have created for me
And when they tell you that I’m mad
For not fitting into
Their particular brand of sanity
Will you, too, shun me?

When I choose to go to jail
So as to be truly free
When I prefer life in an asylum 
To escape the madness outside
When I choose to give up my dreams
So that others can live theirs
And when I give in to pain
So that the healing can begin
Will you take their side?
Will you, too, shun me?

When I stand up to them
And refuse to follow blindly
And when, by so doing,
I challenge your own values
When I choose alone to start
What all have been too terrified 
To imagine
Will you exchange sanity for comfort?
Will you, too, shun me?

Or will you have the presence of mind
To remember our time together
To recall the warmth, the laughter;
Will you pause and reflect
On who I was to you
And who you know me to be;
And will you then pray for courage
To stand with me,
Or will you, too, shun me?