“The Man Behind The Mind”
People were trying to tell him he was a genius.
He had all the answers,
Knew the world inside out,
But unknown to many was his crippling doubt.
Not just doubt, but unease;
A pressure unmatched
To never stumble or falter,
Not a bruise, not a scratch.
People were trying to tell him he was a genius.
He noticed what others ignored;
They saw just a mind,
Nothing less, nothing more.
Always recognized,
But not always welcome.
Perceived as a robot
Instead of a mind, and then some.
People were trying to tell him he was a genius;
Someone on which they relied.
They copied words down,
Then fell away like the tide.
Slowly he changed,
Forced himself to be wrong.
He altered his genius—
He’d be seen before long.
People were trying to tell him he was a genius,
But he didn’t believe them.
He didn’t want to believe them;
The life of a genius is carefully led.
November 22, 2024 at 8:33 am
Awesome poem! I love the rhyme scheme you chose, it gives the poem a good consistent flow without being too overpowering as well as preventing an excess in rhymes or forced rhymes that a lot of poems tend to have. I also like the shift were the character starts trying to be wrong in order to perceived as more “normal” and to be treated as such.
November 22, 2024 at 8:37 am
I really like how you switch from what others perceive to what he feels, I think it emphasizes the impact of their opinions and observations. I also think the rhyme at the end of the first stanza was a great way to start the poem, and it immediately grabbed my attention.
November 22, 2024 at 8:38 am
I really enjoyed this poem, the repetition of the first line in many of the stanzas. As well as his perfectness seen by others, and how he got shaped over time.
November 22, 2024 at 8:41 am
I like this poem it expresses the trope of a genius not understood by the world. The poem flows very well, with traces of rhyming in the poem. The title fits the poem perfectly, summing it up as a whole.
November 22, 2024 at 8:41 am
I like the consistent quatrains and well explained explanation of how the people around him perceive them.
November 22, 2024 at 12:13 pm
This is really good, I enjoyed reading it a lot. The repetition of the first line throughout the poem lends itself really well to the overall flow, and the story itself is really interesting. The idea of someone being viewed as nothing more than a pristine machine, and yearning to be seen as more is very impactful. The simile you used to describe the people who only saw him for what he could do for them, comparing them to the tide, stood out to me. And then the second to last stanza, “Slowly he changed,
Forced himself to be wrong.
He altered his genius—
He’d be seen before long.” is a fantastic twist, and really hones in on the emotions of desire and desperation the subject feels.