(^_^) PoEmS (^_^)

The Lie of Identity
(A California Poem)

By: Kofi Natambu

From: http://www.ishmaelreedpub.com/Natambu.html

She was a white girl
with Asian eyes
& she hated herself
& she hated the image she presented to herself
& she hated the reality that she kept
hidden from herself &
she hated the fact that she hid who she was
so she could be who she appeared to be
& she hated her appearance & the fact that
she wanted to appear not as she was but how others
saw her & she hated how others saw her
& she hated why she was the way she was &
wasn't & she hated thinking about it & her & others
all the goddamn time & what her parents & her boyfriends &
her girlfriends thought about the fact of her endless hatreds & fears
but she couldn't help herself & didn't want need nor trust anyone else to help
her

You see
she was a white girl
with Asian eyes