Convicted By Conviction Poem by Daniel Richards

Can you hear my laughter?
Can you hear me grin?
Don’t tell me what I’m thinking
Don’t tell me how to feel,
You sense that you may feel something
Something about me
Draw upon assumed conclusions
Decide what you believe
But without a single word from my mouth
How can you be so sure
It’s exact that mental image you have drawn of me

Can I tell you something?
Can you let me speak?
Don’t impose your impressions
Don’t impose you belief
I see your ignoring
Simple facts about me
You’re convinced by your improvised image
That I am all that you see
But you neglect to let yourself see
The magic that resides in me

You believe your conviction is true providence
You see nothing but what you draw
From images you narrow eyes let you see
But nothing is what it seems
You view me as an outcast of useless need
So you can’t see the strength that resides in me
I would run though burning woods to save a soul
I would walk across broken glass to help a stranger
I’m a completely different man from you see
Can you say the same?

Blinded by selfish devotion
You lack true courage
Knowledge to you is what you believe
But you lack the intellect to collect
The surroundings from which one has grown
You see me as an outcast of useless need
Convicted by your conviction
You become a lost soul
Without true direction

But yet I would run through woods of fire
To give you a helping hand
I would crawl across broken glass
To save you, without the need to ask
I’m a completely different man from you see
Can you say the same?
Convicted by your conviction
You’re saved by an outcast a useless man
But, one of true direction
Convicted by your conviction
Can you say you’d do the same?