always in poetry

there will always be lazy people
cruel people
hateful people
who will judge you for what you are
not for who you are
and those people
will always be wrong

those people will tell you that you are
a man or a woman
black or white or something else
straight or gay or something else
rich or poor or somewhere in-between
and they will think that means they know
exactly who you are
and those people
will always be wrong!

those things might mean something to you
those things might be a part of you
but they will never tell the full story
of your heart or your soul
your struggles and your yearnings
your wisdom and your scars
they might be a part of what you’re seen to be
but they are not who you are
you are something far more subtle
more amazing and more complex
than a series of judgments made
upon your perceived language age or sex
you are beautiful in a way
that can never be fully described
by the lazy people who’d put you
in easy little boxes with lies
they are wrong
they will always be wrong

you are not what you are
you are who you are
you are the name you call yourself
when no one else is listening
and whoever that name belongs to
they are beautiful
and people will see that in whoever that is
if they just take the time to look
always