Credo

As another youth festival

descends upon us

imposing a regime

of shopping and parties

and for many

getting drunk or stoned.

My belief is,

if you’re part of a culture,

you have the right to express

your individuality;

your universal right to

freedom of choice—

not to be conscripted

by societal norms.

For society to come knocking,

boasting values and

echoing colonialism

on native lands…

is presumptuous.

I am perfectly normal.

It’s everyone else

that fails

to conform.