I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you - nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! They'd advertise - you know!
How dreary - to be - somebody!
How public - like a frog-
To tell one's name - the livelong June -
To an admiring bog!
- Emily Dickinson
Growing up I always had a love for poetry and poets such as Maya Angelo, E.E. Cummings, Robert Frost, and many others. One poem that I keep going back to is I'm Nobody! Who Are You? by Emily Dickinson. There has always been something about this poem that makes me feel there is a connection, a reason I return to my poetry book for this poem, a reason the song based on this poem continues to replay day after day in my head. I feel that the reason I connect so much to this poem is that it's a short description of my life.
Now I'm not implying that I'm a nobody; I'm most definitely a somebody, but a somebody of my own description. However, This poem makes me think more about the choice of being anti-social or choosing to be different from the rest. The choice to stand out from the crowd and be your own person. The choice to be unique. I feel that this poem is saying that because you are different people may not see something special about you, but that's the reason you are special! You are your own person! You're amazing, brave, and smart to stand out from the crowd.
When there's more than one person who's unique, they think somebody else will start gossip. To be somebody, an idol, a popular, someone considered "fake" is not the life that should be lived. We should feel sorry for them because they are average because they choose not to change because they follow the crowd like another mindless soul. This poem best explains me, my friends, and many others.
Choose to be somebody different. Don't follow the crowd, don't be "fake," be "nobody."
