Some only look for differences
Ignore the common ground
Their validation comes from
Putting other people down
Others have a different view
Of the world in which they live
Never asking any more
Than they’re prepared to give
For there’s good and bad around us
In every walk of life
Choose the good – avoid the bad
Who thrive on causing strife
Don’t bang your head against a wall
Trying to make a door
To paraphrase Coco Chanel’s famous quote
I’ve used oft times before
Be with those who get you
The ones who are on your side
If others fail to see your worth
They’re simply not part of your tribe
©Peter Hill, 2023
This poem was longlisted as part of the Kinship: Poems Exploring Belonging project. Click here to find out more about the project, and other poems on the longlist here.
Kinship
Concepts of belonging and community have constantly evolving definitions, and have been at the centre of fierce debate in recent years. The first twenty-three years of the new millennium have seen a rise in rhetoric aimed at those without the voice to argue back, and waves of toxic abuse have proliferated – and genocide. How relevant, then, to unite and raise our voices, to celebrate the rich tapestry of humanity, and to explore the labels we use to identify and express ourselves.
Kinship is a poetry anthology that seeks to provide a platform for marginalised voices, and to celebrate the great diversity and rich variation in the identities of people from around the world and from a huge cross-section of walks of life.
Click here for the anthology of shortlisted poems.