Identity — Two Fold By Simon Chau Identity is a war A clash between perception and reality A perception formed by distrust And a reality derived from connection. I am the face of change and for that they hate me What I am What I symbolize That love transcends color, creed, or culture, That love is more powerful than their hate, Their greed or their anger They circle like vultures Altering the system Moving the goalposts with every bolt of our life they dismantle Excluding, dividing, and attempting to break our spirits, But they cannot, For our spirits have wings. They want us to feel hopeless, Like we are trapped and powerless Our cultures and existence, a weight that we cannot escape. What they don’t know is that I was born of dragons And raised on los sueños de mi abuelo. I am powered by the cultures of my ancestors The harshness of their struggle And the tenacity with which they fought for life. The stars cannot refuse the sky, Lovers cannot refuse the passage of time, And I cannot refuse who I am. This is my Identity, A conflict, A collision, A coalescence, Me ILLUSTRATION BY RIGBY CELESTE
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