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(The Bystander Effect)

Are we one to defy the norms?

Livi Isichei
Feb 13, 2017
Poetry Enthusiasts
88
(The Bystander Effect)
TCU Student Development

why is it when we take steps

forward to embrace our identity,

we fall effortlessly into the cloud of

infinite anonymity


our thoughts ,

instinctual compassion

and human innocence

become mute

and far from reach


we become

just another dot-

another painstaking statistic-

another unfortunate news story

wrapped in misconceptions

and societal norms


we become one with

"the norm machine"

its noisy clicking and repetition-

our motherboard

to an ever-so-monotonous life


when we lie

so dreamlessly into

the basket of belonging

we begin to lose a part of ourselves

that we thought we had once had grasp to


it becomes for society's taking

but it should be for our keeping

when compassion is lost,

what is truly left in us?

the life of a human

is truly lifeless


if we only just sit and watch.

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