Who Are You?

Who are you

To stand there and judge

what you refuse to understand?

Your position holding tall

Over those you’ve deemed too weak

To push back.

Looking down on us

At our most vulnerable, like we are nothing

But voiceless shadows.

 

Who are you

To speak of which

You’ve never lived?

False attempts to empathize

Evident by the lifeless gaze

In your eyes

Leaves those around you

Feeling belittled and alone.

 

Who are you

To laugh at the very pieces

That make life unbearable

To those who must endure?

You’re attempts to make light

Of the tumultuous storm

That rains heavy on us every day

Only further pushes us back

Into the shackles

We fight so hard

To break through.

 

Who are you

To look at us

Like we are anything

But human –

In need of the same love

And compassion as you?

 

The fear and hate

You hold in your heart for us

Only perpetuates our stigmatization.

 

We are no different.

We feel what you feel.

We long for happiness

And success the same as you.

 

Our ability to express

Those feelings

May not look the same

And our successes

May not meet the same

Requirements as yours.

 

But isn’t that okay?

After all, we are human.

We are diverse.

 

We may not be able to quiet

The voices in our head

Or hold true to the same social graces as others

But we are man,

Made from the same cloth.

We are human.

 

We laugh and we cry.

We feel and we yearn.

Our hearts can love and in the same breath be shattered.

And the closets we have confined ourselves to

Are no different than the ones you live in every day.

We are all hiding behind our own masks,

Praying no one sees what makes us most vulnerable.

 

We are all struggling to find ourselves

In the ambiguity that is our lives.

And I can’t help but wonder,

Isn’t that hard enough?

 

Do you ever tire of projecting

Your fears and anxiety on those around you?

Do you ever wish you could just take

A deep breath and step out of your closet?

Believe me, I get it. But belittling me does nothing

To shrink down the walls of your closet.

 

You must look within,

For that is where you will find the peace

You need to grow fully into your own skin.

And maybe for a little while,

You could stop standing there judging me

And start asking yourself,

“Who do I want to be?”