Poem--Acceptance

Decorate me not, with your labels:
Like a dress I have outgrown,
They sit awkwardly upon me,
Not belonging; peeling off;
Stifling my soul with the narrowness
To which you confine me.

They let you imagine me
As what you wish me to be.

Paint me not with your hues;
Each of you perceives me
Through the tint of your own eyes
And sort me like candy.
Then you accuse me: like a chameleon,
Of changing color with every view.

In truth, it is you who view me in colors,
And you, whose perceptions change.

Fashion me not in your shapes:
I am not soft clay to be molded;
I have a form and contour
That cannot be changed with force;
Your compulsion may break me
But it cannot re-sculpt me.

I do not need to look like you:
It is you who need me to fit in.

Stop trying to define me—
I defy your simplistic definitions,
Do not hope to classify me:
I do not fit in your pretty categories.
Do not try to remodel me,
I have been modeled as I was meant to be

I am. And proud to be.

Accept me.