I Am Everything

Talks about the controversy of being human from white to black, from poor to rich, from life to death.

When you see me, you see color.
The tone of my skin,
will automatically categorize me through
society's standards.
I'm White,
I have the media at my feet.
If I'm a lost child,
The world will search for me,
If I were an American.
but my skin tone says I'm not a color,
does that mean I'm not part of a diverse community?
I can't apply for certain jobs.
There are no ethnic groups for my kind,
yet if I create one,
I'm labeled as "racist"
and what are the other ethnic groups called,
"Empowerment"?
I'm Yellow,
you see my fellow kind everywhere,
you assume I don't belong because I can't
speak your language,
but do you know what it's like
not to have "Rights" in your country?
To survive and bow down to a master
that doesn't acknowledge your existence?
We can't even write letters to our President,
but you have an opportunity to voice yours.
I'm Caramel,
I'm labeled everything, but the country I'm originally from,
Being shuffled like cattle,
I had forgotten my own name,
my own existence and my heritage.
People say I'm history,
Americans doesn't welcome me,
but I just want to be me.
I'm Red,
my history is plated through the dirt,
only a few of us survived,
we hide among the nature of our calling,
our traditions and songs,
stripped away
as we hear the echoes of others
slandering one another of who belongs to this land.
My ancestors very few are written in books,
our children today, follow the beat of pop
instead of the footsteps of our heroes from the past.
I'm black,
Hated by most, survived through it all.
I'm labeled at the bottom of the totem pole,
other races won't mingle with us,
but my voice and the beautiful dark skin
will radiate the room with love and joy.
Brought on this land with chains,
remained in this country,
to take back my name.
I'm a man,
who may not have the body of mother nature,
but I too can be nurturing and giving.
My hands built like an army,
but my heart melts like the sun.
I'm also a father,
who loves his children,
yet because I didn't bare them,
I can't fight for their existence.
I'm an infant,
with a beating heart.
I may not have been planned,
but please don't dismiss my soul.
I can hear her voice and I want to know
my mother's face,
give me a chance to bring change
to this world.
Cast me out and you'll never know . . .
I'm a woman,
I come in all shapes and sizes,
why cast me aside and judge my worth
through your shallow standards
of what a woman should be.
I maybe a homemaker,
but just like you I work as well.
I can be a teacher, coach,
mechanic, plumber and a maid,
I do it every day.
Without monetary funds,
am I not as equal as you?
You see,
I am everything and everyone one of us,
have felt discriminated and hated on.
As I sit here contemplating the argument
of why this prejudice exist,
I hear the words from above.
"I am just me,
My father created me
to set every one of you free,
yet I had been scorned like a criminal,
I've been cast aside like a hobo man,
and people claim to love me,
but what they don't see . . .
when you have been discriminated,
they also discriminate me." -Jesus.

(c) Copyright, Chong N. Kim, 2011

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Your words are true and strong wisdom. We never know if the man or woman. We may look away from because she is poor or homeless. Could be a Angel testing our heart and spirit. I believe each of us will have opportunity to assist and give a hand to the needy. We live in a world with 95% under the poverty line. Time to stop all the useless wars. Create a war to stop hunger and sickness. I like how you ended the poem. Thank you for the outstanding poem.
Coyote