Unwritten labels
Unwritten labels
Why do you profile me?
Why do your eyes scream danger at my shadow?
They strip me of my humanity.
Am I just another face to fit your mold,
A man whose presence shifts your peace to paranoia?
A man walks by, another fleeting threat,
Am I so easily condemned by what I am,
Not who I strive to be?
You say my kind has no soul,
A heartless beast crafted by circumstance.
Another face to fear, another story untold,
But here I stand, pleading silently:
See the man, not the myth.
It is my soul that calls out to yours.
Speak to me as your equal.
Didn’t God fashion us from the same clay,
breathe life into us with the same gentle touch?
Your eyes scream paranoia,
Your gaze brands me a villain:
Shape me into a monster I’ve never been.
“A rapist”,” a killer”, “a faceless shadow of harm”,” a threat.”
You brace yourself,
Not knowing the weight of these labels
You hurl before my name.
But I am not the villain you’ve written
into the pages of your mind.
What baffles me is that ,
You think I am like the rest.
Another nameless figure in your cautionary tale.
Am I so hard to see beyond the silhouette,
to be spoken to, not judged?
I feel your fear;
I do not deny it.
Your fear wraps me in chains I cannot see.
Your wounds are etched deeper than words.
But do you not see how your judgment wounds me too?
Your eyes hold questions,
But they do not seek answers.
They shout accusations without proof,
Sculpting a stranger from my silence.
I choose to be me, know me first.
I'm sorry for your trauma,
Your pain is valid,
But so is my humanity.
Speak to me not as a threat,
But as a man trying to break the chain
Of violence and suspicion.
Can you know me before condemning me?
But how do I carry a burden I never created?
How do I heal a wound I did not inflict?
I am not your savior,
But I am not your villain.
I cannot heal your scars;
They are not mine to mend.
but I wish I could mend them anyway.
I cannot take it away,
But must I carry it too?
I beg you,
Do not carve new ones into my skin
With the blade of your prejudice.
Let me stand as I am,
Not as the fear you wear like armor.
I am a man.
Not all men are what you fear,
But if you never look past the shadow,
You’ll never see the light.
If I extend my hand, will you take it,
or will fear make you turn away?
Can we ever rewrite the unwritten labels
and truly see each other as we are?
So I ask you,
Can you find the courage to see me as more than your fears?
Copyright © stephen maina | Year Posted 2024
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