It's a Curious Thing

There are some people
(I’m one) who negotiate
their membership
in the family they’re
born into. They get by.

They continue to cope
and manage as they
move through other groups—
schools and jobs,
communities. But they
never belong. They’re
not exactly loners or
outcasts. In a way,
that would be easier–
the lines sharp.

They always feel
themselves to be
provisional members,
probationary,
forever trying to figure out
the rules and codes,
always and ultimately
awkward, no matter
how “successful.” This is no

complaint, only observation.
It is the shape of the path
for some of us—that’s all.
It is a curious thing, that’s all.


Hans Ostrom, 2013