Is there any way to get this poem printed?
I want to leave it in public places
On the chance that a man or woman
Somewhere will see it, and it will help.
I want to be a part of the world
And here it is, all around me, a world
That I have not made, but am in.
I'm in it, too. So what can I do?
I have to take it as it comes,
And that's not easy. If I could make it,
How would it be?
This isn't easy.
There's something in me
That wants to see the world
Made better, made good.
It's not me, I know that.
I don't know what it is,
But I know it's there.
I've got to make myself
A place in the world
Where I can be comfortable.
I've got to know
Where I am.
I've got to be able to see
The things I can do
And the things I can't do.
I've got to see
The things I must do,
And the things I must not do.
I can't just do what I want.
I can't just say, ‘This is the way I am,
And the rest of you can go to hell.’
In a way, the world has got
To be a place for me
To have a place in.
If there's something in me
That wants to see the world
Made better, made good,
Then I've got to be
Part of that world
Or I am not going to be part of it
At all.
That isn't the way it is.
I'm not part of the world
And I can't make it better.
I've got to try to do something else.
I've got to try to put myself
In the world without changing it.
I've got to live in the world
And be myself, and not change it.
I've got to be
Part of the world,
And see what that means.