Noncompliant

It’s nothing to be proud of.
In most cases it’s stupid.
In many cases it hurts

Other people needlessly,
In which case, it’s simply mean,
Selfish, even hard-hearted.

Still, the urge is fierce sometimes
To indulge in refusal,
Defiance, noncompliance,

To feel you have asserted
Your personal existence
Can resist the collective,

Can insist on remaining
Its own, unique existence,
Which is you, and you alone,

Your personal myth of you,
Maybe not independent
But distinct. No. Don’t. Won’t. No.