A Human Being

An older one, but one of my favorites.
Sometimes, nifty things fall out of my fingers ...

A Human Being

by Lyn Marinello

 

I am not a chess piece

To culminate a win

I'm so much more than simply

Just the color of my skin.

 

I am not the product

Of your whims as I should be

I am blood and sweat and bones and tears

I am trying to be me.

 

I do not exist

As a sum of given parts

I am what I cultivate

With a passionately beating heart.

 

My quality of life

Is not based on generations past

It's formed by my tenacity

To create a legacy that'll last.

 

I am not contained

By the vowels in my name

Nor am I defined

By the place from which my family came.

 

I cannot be packaged

Into a concept nice and neat

I am not a label

That you place before my feet.

 

I am not the past

I am a living, present piece

In a giant worldwide puzzle

Of a fleeting, intangible peace.

 

I am not a race

I am precious to my core

I am worthy and important

I believe we all deserve more.

 

I am not a demographic

There's a purpose to my soul

We are each uniquely qualified

To be better as a whole.

 

I'm afraid of an unknown future

Scared of the indifference I'm seeing

I'm not black or white or he or she

I am first - a human being.