Although we’ve been acquainted 50 years
as roommates, neighbors, mostly closest friends,
she thought my social shyness came from fears –
“You follow rules of order,” she’d contend.
And he, creative relative, long deemed
me typical of where I live. He said
I fit some category, or I seemed
derivative in work and quickly read.

But now that we’ve grown quieter and kind,
they think I’ve changed the fundamental me.
(I harbor yet my laughing rebel mind,
enjoying constant eccentricity.)
They seem to get me now they’ve ceded fuss;
I just don’t want to be conspicuous.