I've been called "weird" several times in my life, both as a joke and very seriously. But perhaps there's nothing really wrong with being weird. I wrote this poem, with a silly title and silly words but with a very personal and real message.

I walked passed you at the zoo and nearly lost my thought. “What an odd creature,” I mumbled as I ate a pretzel. The closer I watched, however, I saw how you aren’t that odd at all. It must be awfully lonely for you in your tall world. I’m sorry for that. But you’re an entity all your own. It’s difficult because the parents will cringe at your monstrous existence and children will laugh at your elementary features, but at least you will make them smile. You remind them of a time when they drew pictures of their favorite zoo creatures. You are the very essence of who they are and to stand out among the spectacular is no accomplishment to be ignored. They’ll remember your ugliness with nostalgia and your beauty with question. “I am handsome,” you’ll shout. The others will disagree, but as long as you believe, that’s all you need. This world is unkind to those like you and me—those who dare to test the confines of the carefully built walls.