The Thinker

Confidence always alludes me,
See confidence is key.
Charisma, so I'm told these days
Is the link to opportunity.
In economy buying and selling
Is due to, so people profess,
The knowledge and charm of the vendors
Whose smiles alone seem to impress.
As a child I was always a shy one
Who liked more to be on my own,
I had friends but I couldn't be with them
Every hour of the day in their zone.
My clam-like ways brought me jeering
I was an odd, silent tomboy, you see,
Not really a girl so the boys said,
No sweet giggler as girls should be.
Once we introverts held the glory;
Learnéd men like Gandhi and Abe
With his great busy beard and his vaguely shy ways
America he salvaged and saved.
See, introverts are ponderers
We sit in our own world and think,
In our tight little minds we find peace and time
To nurture ideas lest they sink.
I'm not trashing extroverts exactly
You guys are a wonderful bunch
And without you to sparkle and fizzle
The silence would be far too much,
But we innies are really born leaders
As hard as that is to believe,
We take calculated steps to success
Though speeches cause sighs to be heaved.
Our Charlie Chaplin nature
Lets others' thoughts to thrive
So creativity's not battered down
By our own ideas keen to survive.
Even now I tend to be quiet
And pensive, not socially adept
But I haven't done that bad so far
To a standard I hope can be kept.
So quash not our introvert values,
Our systems, our wee ways of life
Charisma's not all to be glorified
But the Thinker, quiet and bright.

Inspired by Susan Cain's talk 'The Power of Introverts' 2012 TED conference