What constitutes as weird?

By definition, we say weird when there’s something bizarre or strange

Like if there’s a random cat in the boxes you’ve just arranged

Or when you see a rat dancing in the rain

Anything that you don’t see every single day

But just because it’s weird, doesn’t mean it’s bad

Many people confuse what connotation it has

You see, we’ve become accustomed to likening that word to “crazy”

Along with disturbing, creepy, or unsettling

But for me, weird is the extraordinary

It is marvelously remarkable, surreal, and noteworthy

Yes, it has the tendency to give me anxiety

But that’s just because it’s something that I wouldn’t normally

Encounter in my everyday existence

I mean, who wouldn’t be anxious when going through a new experience?

Like for example, profile pictures didn’t mean a thing to me

I don’t have much use for it. Hell, I didn’t even bother to change it

I mean, what’s the use? You can identify me with my name

So I was understandably perplexed when you asked me one day

“Hey, you want matching profile pictures?”

I’m paraphrasing, by the way. That isn’t the exact words that you said

But honestly, at that moment, you almost had me dead

I was completely caught off-guard, but delighted at best

I mean, who wouldn’t? I felt important in a way

But I can’t seem to explain it because my thoughts are all over the place

Especially after we played Minecraft together. Do you remember those days?

Back in December? We even lived together at the same house that we made

What’s so bizarre with this one? Well, I never really had someone to always play with

So it was strange to me that I’m talking to someone while playing

Because I’ve always been a solo player, barely socialized with other gamers

But you changed this perspective of mine with each invite you sent

But what’s more surreal than this gaming sessions that we had before

Was that time you managed to make me sing, even though I barely hit every chord

It was odd to see someone encourage me to sing, hell even ask if they could duet with me

I’m not that good of a singer, so I could tell I did poorly.

I didn’t even got time to practice the songs

But I hope I didn’t ruin the music. I really did my best to sing along

But now that I’ve mentioned these memories.. it’s really been a while, hasn’t it?

You and I, we’ve been both busy with the lives we have and

I don’t want to assume, but it feels like we’re drifting apart

I don’t know. It just pains me to see that we rarely get to talk

I hope my words reach you someday. At least before it’s too late

Because I really cherish those memories

No matter how out of the ordinary they can be

And a little part of me wish that maybe we could do it all again

To try and start over. To mend what were broken

With a small ray of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel

I wish this poem would deliver how much I miss your presence

I don't know if this is considered weird nor horrific, but one time around November, I was alone in the living room at night. I was watching something on the TV, I told my mother I wanted to finish an episode of the show I was watching. So I laid back as the show went on. Everyone was upstairs, so I was the only one in the room. After a few minutes or so, the TV suddenly switched channels. I thought it was just me, because my elbow was resting against the TV remote. I switched it back to what I was watching, but then, the TV switched back to another channel. I got a bit confused, but I switched it back again. Then suddenly, it began to switch through channels, and I wasn't even pressing buttons on the remote anymore. I got scared, thinking that I wasn't alone in the room. I thought, was an ancestor trying to make me notice them? Have I accidentally called their soul over during All Souls Day? Are they stuck in my house, finding a way to communicate with me because they have unfinished business? I freaked out, getting paranoid at my surroundings. After that I just turned off the TV, quickly took a short shower and went to bed. The next night, when I watched the same show I tried to watch, yet the TV didn't switched channels by itself anymore. I sighed out of relief, praying that it won't happen again, and it didn't. Or at least, that's what I thought.

One month later.
7pm, December 8.
Me and my parents were in the living room, the news was on. I was doing my tasks on the computer, my parents were conversing. Then, it happened. The TV switched channels on its own again. At first I thought it was my father switching the channels, but the remote was far from him. Remembering the past experience I had, my hand shook as I grabbed the remote. I switched the channel back to the Kapamilya Channel as I placed the remote on my desk. Then, it started to switch channels on its own again. "Nak, linipat mo ba yung channel?" My dad asked. I nodded no as the TV kept switching channels on its own. My dad stood up from his chair, and tried to fix the problem on the TV. After a while, it seemed like he was done trying to fix the problem, so I went up to him; "Dad, ano problema nung TV? Baket palit sya ng palit magisa?" My dad told me, "May problema ata yung Cignal set up box natin, tawagan ko lang sila para maayos bukas." And with that, my paranoia washed away. I really got scared, I really thought another presence we couldn't see was with us. Right now, our setup box has been replaced and has not switched channels on its own ever again. However I still wonder..