I have been taught

From a very young age

That everything about me

Is wrong.

From my looks

To my behaviors

It didn’t seem to matter

Whether or not

The offending quality

Was innate or acquired,

It was sure to come up

As being offensive.

As a result

I’ve spent my life

Apologizing for myself,

Going through my days

With my head held low

And my shoulders hunched,

Trying to hide

From the glare

Of an ideological spotlight;

But of late

A strange new conviction

Has begun to take shape.

For years I’ve waited in vain

For others to recognize

The goodness  in me

And the promise in my abilities.

I have now begun to understand

They couldn’t recognize

What I kept hidden

Out of fear,

So I’ve decided

The time has come

To cast aside that

Which blocks the light

Shining radiantly

From my heart

And my soul.

I will apologize no longer

For those aspects of myself

That were God-given

And God-loved.

I will simply be

Me.