Humanity

I wear a mask of wealth

You can see it in my dress

You judge me by my riches

Condemning my excess

You see me as an evil

Affluent and of power

Relentless in my pursuit

Demeanor cold and dour

But I am not my money

Though you think my life secure

I sit with you in brokenness

Anxious and unsure

I wear a robe of hardship

My poverty external

You call me poor and common

Though my soul is ever vernal

My face may be unshaven

My clothes may be threadbare

But I have worth and purpose

To which you aren't aware

My life is not a failure

Don't look at me as less

Don't judge me by your norms

Or your vision of success

I wear a front detached

From behind these iron bars

My face is tough and callous

My soul has many scars

You have labeled me a criminal

Though you commit a sin

For you call me less than human

And deny the man within

There is beauty in me yet

Do not rob me of my being

I am life and love and promise

A present here worth seeing

I wear a cloak of strangeness

You speak of me with hate

And long to get revenge

For the fear I helped create

You see me as a demon

Though I acted for my creed

You judge my people partners

And blame them for my deed

Terrorist, insurgent

Echo in your land

Somehow you've forgotten

That our lives go hand in hand

I wear no mask before you

So you know not how to be

You put me in a corner

And you think that I don't see

You view me as a burden

So you brand me as disabled

But my beauty is my weakness

And so I've been mislabeled

Do I make you feel discomfort

When I want to sit with you?

Your semblance does not fool me

For I can see right through

I wear a shirt deemed foreign

Although I am your neighbor

You label me illegal

But exploit me for my labor

You tell me to get out

Though you use me for your ends

You treat me like a locust

As if my life offends

But you were once a migrant

So we are much the same

Outsiders, yes, but humans

Through flesh we share one name

I wear a badge of honor

My country calls me blessed

But I question deep inside

The flag across my chest

Some label me a killer

With my army boots and gun

But most will cheer me onward

And treat me as their son

I wonder what I fight for

They tell me it is peace

But I train and wait in doubt

Will this bloodshed ever cease?

I wear myself, rejected

As you tell me I am queer

You try to fix and change me

But I feel your sense of fear

I live in pure frustration

Of gender roles created

Hearing names like fag and dyke

Getting judged by who I've dated

Why am I so different?

Who says that I am wrong?

I've been made to feel a fool

For entirely too long

I wear a veil of hatred

Towards my curves of womanhood

My body is mistreated

And design misunderstood

I'm handled like an object

Something to be owned

You use, abuse, and hurt me

But your actions are condoned

My spirit cries for freedom

I'm yearning for escape

I long for liberation

And a world devoid of rape

I wear a great potential

That is not yet actualized

When you heard that I was coming

You were anxious and surprised

I understand your worry

Though I am no mistake

But a gift of life within you

And a chance that you should take

Although you cannot see me

I am truer than you know

Please treat me as a person

And give me time to grow

I wear a coat of colors

My hues are countless shades

My canvas never ceasing

My brilliance never fades

I am black and white and brown

My shape is thin and wide

I have stories of all nature

That I carry deep inside

I cannot be confined

To a single class or mold

I am human at my core

Full of beauty to unfold

-C. O'Connell-