Figuring it out (v2)

[busker]

Figuring it out


I was a lonely child, my dreams were wild
and dangerous: I’d read a Ranger Rick
about Brazil, and wake up wrestling
a hungry anaconda for my life.
When other children found me odd, I took it
as a compliment—“Hello,” they’d say,
and I’d recite a fact about the moon
or list the pros and cons of having toes.
Adults, when I told them the truth, would stare
at me, then laugh—later, I would learn
to call this rush of joy a joke.

This looks like quite a few children I know 


Adults, when I told them the truth, would stare
at me, then laugh—later, I would learn
to call this rush of joy a joke.


Children are all truth tellers, and therefore embarrassing. This third remembered factoid about N’s childhood is less unique than the first two. In fact, it’s so universal that it’s confusing as to why it’s mentioned at all. But of course it’s a setup for the last line. And it works in isolation. But read with the earlier parts of the poem, it does come across as a bit self indulgent and  whiny.