Alas, I' Am Just Me Poem by Christopher Tye

Alas, I' am Just Me

Alas, I' am not a great oritator,
Alas, I' am not a genius,
Alas, I' am not a great thinker,
Alas, I' am not a composer.

I' am just me, an ordinary man,
I' am just me; I will never be anything else,
I' am just me; I will never achieve much,
I' am just me, just the bloke next-door.

Alas, I will never be a king or a prince,
Alas, I will never walk on the moon,
Alas, I will never be a novelist or poet,
Alas, I will never have film star looks.

I' am just me, an ordinary working man,
I' am just me, destined never to travel far,
I' am just me, a man of few words,
I' am just me, plain old me.

Alas, I' am not a diplomat,
Alas, I' am not well versed in politics,
Alas, I' am not a social animal,
Alas, I' am not someone who makes lots of friends.

I' am just me, with my knack of upsetting people,
I' am just me; I just speak my mind come what may,
I' am just me, at my happiest on my own,
I' am just me, destined to be a lonely person.

Alas, I' am not rich,
Alas, I' am not a banker,
Alas, I' am not a CEO of a big company,
Alas, I' am not a businessman.

I' am just me, like most people I' am just poor,
I' am just me; I don't get big bonuses,
I' am just me; I don't get a good salary,
I' am just me, a downtrodden worker.

Alas, my dreams are just dreams,
Alas, I didn't achieve what I should have,
Alas, I' am growing old fast,
Alas, I don't know how much time I have left.

I' am just me, just struggling to survive,
I' am just me, life just got in the way,
I' am just me; illness did batter my body,
I' am just me, I' am just a frail human.

Alas, I never gained the qualifications I should have,
Alas, did the schools fail me?
Alas, I had to fight too many fights,
Alas, I had to stand by my faith.

I' am just me; maybe I could have done more,
I' am just me, did I fail myself?
I' am just me; I just scarified my future,
I' am just me; my faith is everything to me.

Alas, things could have been so different,
Alas, history won't remember me,
Alas, I couldn't change my principles,
Alas, I was facing too great an enemy.

I' am just me, I can't rewrite history,
I' am just me; I won't even make the footnotes of history,
I' am just me, doomed forever to do the right thing at all costs,
I' am just me, failing to realise I was my own greatest enemy.

By Christopher Tye