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I Am What You Are

By iram 24 | Posted: 01 March 2010

Views: 293
They gawk at me with such
Disgrace
They belittle me due to my 
Race

They snarl after me as I'm 
Walking
They don't even spare my mother's way of
Talking

I am not a tarnished 
Soul
The past, in the future will take its
Toil

So don't fake a gracious
Smile
In your heart I know you believe I'm
Vile 

I was born and raised on the same 
Soil 
I also grew to listen to Susan
Boyle

I seek to become what you
Are 
But that's like a dog smoking a 
Cigar

I am not a grubby
Stain 
Just because my father's name is 
Hussain

Next week, next month, next
Year
For sure I will still be 
Here

But then things will have
Changed
And we'll all be perfectly 
Arranged

Not by culture, not by race and not by
Name
Only then will we all be the 
Same  


This poem was inspired by Languston Hughes who wrote the most beautiful poem about how African Americans struggled before the civil rights in the 20th century. And how they knew that some day they will, too, be equal to everyone else. And I guess they believed right since Barack Obama was elected in 2008.
All articles on this website by iram 24 are copyright ©iram 24 and should not be reproduced without the author's prior written consent. All opinions are the opinions of their respective authors and are not necessarily the opinions of The Writers' Circle.
Comments 
fannyfrances
01 March 2010
i liked this, it had a lot of poignancy to it. only criticism i would make would be that yuo say 'toil' in the third stanza: do you mean 'toll'? apart from that, brilliant  

:)
m n m n I
02 March 2010
I like this poem because something's personal is being conveyed; but I don't know if the message "I am what you are" is something I can believe in
Why would you want to be somebody else, especially if that somebody else does not like what you are, out of ignorance?
The problem is in the biased person's mind and not in yours
Why own the other person's bias?
Why want to be what the other person is? How do you achieve that?
It's like a dog chasing its tail
You are what you are, and your difference, and our differences, is what make this world beautiful
The problem is in the other person's mind
Why make it your own problem?
Be at peace with yourself . . .

m n m n I
m n m n I
02 March 2010
I don't think blacks wanted to be white
They only wanted to be understood and treated as human beings with the same rights, privileges and opportunities
I won't even think that they wished they were white
It would just fan the hatred, if they did
The closed mind takes a while to open 
Unfortunately, too long . . .

m n m n I
Evita Sagalongos
02 March 2010
This says a lot, but i agree with mnmnI's comment, no one will like to be someone else especially if he/she hates that someone.
iram 24
02 March 2010
Thanks. I was kind of upset when I wrote this so that's why I said I wanted to be like someone else. I wrote 'I seek to become what you are' because when I was writing to me it seemed that that's the only accepted form of a person, and that everyone should look like each other. I was just in the moment I'm fine now.
bobchoi
03 March 2010
Iram, happy to know that you're fine now.  If something bothers you, write something about it... it makes you feel better... as you must have found out by now.  You can say it's "writing therapy".
Beaner
03 March 2010
This peom was very well written, good job:)

Writer
iram 24

Total posts:
76
Roles: Writer
Peterborough , UNITED KINGDOM
I'm a small writer and poet who's starting small but dreaming to make it big. I live in Peterborough and I've been writing for a while now but I enjoy it so much. I mostly write poetry but I also write ... (Read more)
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