Different can be the same

They say she can’t influence you because well you aren’t the same.
Different history, different color, different name,
Yet I see a reflection of the darkness of my heart.
The part I try hardest to conceal,
Shoved relentlessly, unequivocally inside
Hidden in my closet behind those ratty, torn shoes,
Dust-covered boxes and old journals filled with youthful musings.

They are pieces of me left abandoned
But somehow you can see my veiled attempts to masquerade
And you are intent on telling the world.
Though you do not even know me,
You speak of me in oddly overt, unspecific terms
I am like you, like everyone else; we are all one in the same
We have a same heart, a same soul, a same need for oxygenated air.

It is clear I have a story just like you
Yet if our pieces were put together not even half of them would mesh
Though some would fall naturally others I would force, berate
The harshness of their clashing tones
Would equate to forks and knives and plates all rubbing together
Underneath the guide of a four-year-old in an upscale restaurant.
Where all the heads would turn and take notice
And the news would probably report it
It’s dramatic. There is discord. This makes good news!


To err is human, and an error it would certainly be
To coerce all our pieces to subsist as cookie-cutter shapes,
Rather let’s leave seeds of dissension behind,
Not to go forever untouched, but considerately set aside for now
Until we can learn to reshape us in lieu of trying to shape each other
Instead let’s find the pieces that sing sweetly together
They are somewhat similar still wonderfully diverse
And when combined they don’t rhyme, they harmonize.
Only one picture, only one image, only one name.
Didn’t anyone ever tell you? Different can be the same.

On writing poetry and other things...

"I am afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it--and that's all I got."
~ Sabrina Ward Harrison