It’s Not That I Don’t Like That You’re Engaged

 It’s not that I don’t like

That you’re engaged

You wanted me to, like

Throw you a party

I barely know you

I know nothing

About this person

You’re going to marry

You want me to like it

But I don’t know anything about it

The engagement

How the two of you are

Together

If I told you

I had never seen a movie

Would you then ask me

If I like it?

Maybe you would

Maybe that’s the problem

There’s this feeling

That we don’t need

To know anything

About anything

To have an opinion about it

And when it comes to

Cultural things

I understand that

To a point

I don’t like it

But I understand it

But when it comes

To personal things

Things like people

Getting engaged

And getting married

And having kids

It just feels like

I shouldn’t be asked

To endorse all that

If I know nothing

About it

Because what if

You shouldn’t be getting engaged

And what if you shouldn’t be married

Or having kids?

What if you going to the store

Is a bad idea?

We have this tendency now

To just applaud for everything

And I’m not talking

About participation trophies

I’m talking about passive positivity

I have read no studies on this

But I am convinced

That it can’t be good

Yes, knowing nothing

I am getting behind

An idea

On this issue, I will

Because I can feel the harm

I can feel it

I see two hundred people

Excited for you

To marry this person

Who, as far as I can tell

From my brief scroll

Through your profile

You met two months ago

I can’t do that

I don’t oppose

The engagement

I have nothing against it

But I can’t cheer and holler for it

Because I’m simply

Too unfamiliar

And I don’t know why

We can’t just let that be that

I don’t know why

It should matter to you

That I, a stranger

Is not cheering you on

In this moment

Provided I’m not

Working against you

Which I’m not

There is an area

In the middle there

And the middle

Can be a wonderful place

To exist

I wish you all the best

But I also can’t

Because I don’t know

What the best

Would be for you

But whatever it is

I hope you get it

And I hope you have lots

Of people

There for you

When it happens

There

See?

That wasn’t so bad