Introvert
(in honor of Sophia Dembling)
Introversion is often treated as the space
where extroversion is not
It's treated as a vacuum
An absence rather than a presence
Measuring introversion as the lack of extroversion suggests
that extroversion is something and introversion
is a sort of nothingness
It is a lack
A hole
A place where something isn't
I'm not mentally ill
I'm not dangerous
Or weird
Or lacking in any way
I just like to be alone sometimes
I was born this way
I don't suggest introversion is better
than extroversion
But I bristle at the suggestion
that extroversion is better than introversion
I like art galleries and museums
I like parks where I can
walk or sit and watch
I like days with nothing on my schedule
evenings alone watching six consecutive episodes of my favorite show
A night at home alone with the TV
might not sound like fun to some people
And sure, I don't mind the right kind of company
for a night like that
But I don't need company
often I don't want it
I am an introvert
And there's not a damn thing wrong with me