The Box

Don’t put me in your box

You may not know what I am

But I know

That’s what matters

I see the question in your eyes

Your confused look

The need to label me

To make sense of me

I make sense

I see you trying to add everything up

The color of my skin

The texture of my hair

A + B =

You’re wrong

You’re always wrong

Your need to label

Your need to put me in a box

Nice and neat

The math problem you keep getting stuck on

That’s not my problem

I don’t need to explain myself to you

It’s this need to label

To put me in a box

To keep me there

That’s the problem

If you can label me

You can separate me

Don’t ask me what I am

Come talk to me

Sit with me

Eat with me

Laugh with me

Throw that damn box away

Get rid of it

Hear my story

The story of my ancestors

Rising up out of me

Forget what you think you know

Stop using your eyes

This is the work

Listen