The Ones Who Didn't Fit In
by Lee Hart
There is a line in each place and time
That divides all of us from the few.
They are the knaves who cannot behave,
And who scorn what the rest of us do.
They could go far with things as they are,
But they break all the hearts of their kin.
Never content with what heaven sent,
They're the ones who didn't fit in.
Shunned by the throng, for they can't get along,
Each becomes like the Wandering Jew.
Always to roam, with never a home
In their quest for the strange and the new.
They could be saved by the road that is paved.
They're resourceful and sharp as a pin.
But the lure of unknowns is deep in the bones
Of the ones who didn't fit in.
They never quail to blaze their own trail.
If they lose, they just bet again.
Bright are the dreams and feverish schemes
Of the ones who didn't fit in.
Most will be lost, the terrible cost
Of their hardship and lonely despair!
Some though survive, and may even thrive
Doing deeds that none of us dare.
When sailors were hurled to the edge of the world,
Their odds of surviving were thin.
Who were the chaps that redrew the maps?
It's the ones who didn't fit in.
When gold could be found in hard frozen ground,
Who was the first to rush in?
It wasn't the breed that had all they need,
But the ones who didn't fit in.
When war rages on and all hope is gone,
That's when the heroes charge in.
Who were the ones not afraid of the guns?
It's the ones who didn't fit in.
When man learned to fly, and pilots would die,
In a crash or hideous spin.
Who did they draft to fly unproven craft?
It's the ones who didn't fit in.
Take a good look in a history book;
You will see them, time and again.
Artists, explorers, inventors and such
Had the courage not to fit in.
A place on the earth for proving their worth,
Where at last they finally could win.
For the future of man is advanced by the plans
Of the ones we wouldn't fit in.
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This was inspired by Robert Service's poem "The Men That Don't Fit In". His was a sad tale about the "losers" who go against the pack and are doomed to fail. But among those that society marks as outcasts can also be found the most creative, adventureous, inventive, and determined of men. So I turned it around to suggest that history is often made by those that don't fit in. They are the ones that do what we thought couldn't be done!
A poem by Lee A. Hart, © 1984-2022 by Lee A. Hart. Created 3/11/2012. Last updated 3/16/2022.
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