My Son's Poem: "Identity"

My son's high school Language Arts (aka English) class's theme for the semester is the utterly predictable "social justice," discussing topics like "identity." I'm beyond proud of him for this contribution to the discussion.

NOTE: The blog platform doesn't seem to be handling the paragraph spacing well, so here is a PDF version that will also make it easier to print if you want to: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hs89t535wy2ldmd/Identity%20poem.pdf?dl=0


Identity,

what a wholly human concept.

Only we could misconstrue

something so abstract.

Only we allow ourselves

to be defined

by such limits

as labels.

Only we

willingly trade cause

for result;

to justify your behavior

with the claim

it‘s just who we are,

to forget that

the person

and the actions

are not an excuse

for one another.

When did defending our goals

find itself more important

than pursuing them?

When did our sense of individuality

find itself codependent

on others?

When did “I”

find itself interchangeable

with “us”?

Painting stories

of lives we haven’t lived,

calling experiences we never had

our own;

dismissing passion, purpose,

for the comfort

of finding yourself

in someone else,

A future predetermined

by a past name,

living up to our legacy,

before you are given the chance

to create your own.


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