Un-Romanticizing Me

Things Of Poetry

too many whispers of who me is—
but is it me?

the picture is beautiful,
my own private fantasy,
a world I could live inside,
quiet, curated, untouched.

but the undying love interest is missing.
I shut out friends—who needs family?
I wear the personality of a picture,
borrow moods from shadows and captions.

yet this fantasy trembles,
thin as glass.

because silence, when worshipped,
becomes a room with no doors.
and solitude, when adored too much,
forgets how to love back.

so I learn to step out gently—
not loud, not sudden—
to let my quiet meet another quiet,
to let my inner world breathe air.

I do not abandon myself.
I expand.

and in choosing connection,
I keep my depth,
but lose the delusion.

This poem is a quiet pushback against the romanticized version of introversion that many of us have unconsciously adopted. It speaks to how easy it is to confuse curated silence, isolation, and aesthetic loneliness for identity, mistaking withdrawal for depth and avoidance for self-knowledge. The poem isn’t rejecting introversion itself—it’s rejecting the lie that shrinking your world, cutting off people, or hiding behind a mood is growth.

At its core, it’s a reminder that identity is not something we inherit from trends or images, but something we choose through honesty, connection, and truth. Being “yourself” should feel alive, not boxed in, and growth often begins the moment you step outside the frame you thought fit you best.

If you haven’t, be sure to read Romanizing Introvertedness. This poem is a follow up on the topic