Poem - Who I Am

[kokopelle]

Brittany Simon’s video, “Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”, inspired me to write the poem “Who I Am”. I am very happy for the friends that look past how I differ from them. I may defy their tribal beliefs. I am still allowed to exist in the sphere of their world.


Who I Am

Don’t be distracted by what you see
this commentary defying note
of the norm that most agree
define a world that is not me
confusion should be assumed
then put aside as a ruse
I’m the puzzle with a pen
conveyed by jests I’ll explain

I understand your response
is a mirror of the past
what’s concrete is then based
on a plane that’s all too flat
the breadth of life reflected there
is only based on the frame’s size
be it held in the hand
or hung to cover a full wall

all the tribes are not the same
the dogma set is self-involved
put to books or passed by rote
arrayed against a foreign world
to put a label on my head
borrow robes that may not fit
a state of fact will only lie
if the box is not my own

emotion springs from different founts
this is the measure of who I am
squint into reflections glare
step away from mob’s howling
it’s a challenge to relate
to the outsider that does not match
still I exist with a request
to be loved for who I am.

© 2018. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved. 20180419.