If You Really Knew Me...

If you really knew me

It would not matter that my skin was white

Or black

Or brown

Or yellow

Or red

Or pink

Or blue with green polka dots.

If you really knew me

It would not matter that I drive a Mercedes-Benz

Or a beat up pickup truck with no air conditioning or radio.

You wouldn’t care if my home was a mansion

Or the alley behind the post office.

You would not care about the tattoos all over my body

Or the crew cut haircut I love to wear.

If you really knew me

It would not matter that I spoke English

Or Japanese

Or Hindi

Or Spanish

Or Swahili.

If you really knew me

You would not care that I was lazy,

Or an atheist,

Slept around,

Cheated on my taxes,

Stripped for a living,

Or shot up heroin.

You would not even care if I was a fundamentalist Christian

Or a radical Muslim. 

If you really knew me

You would understand that the anger and rage I take out on you

Is not about you.

It’s about me—my experiences,

My traumas,

My pains,

Being expressed in the only way I know how.

If you really knew me

You would acknowledge me for who I am—

A being full of light,

And love,

And joy!

You would see my perfection

And would not seek to change me

Or control me.

You would know my life journey is about

My own personal growth and evolution.

You would honor me,

Just as I honor you,

If you really knew me.

~Cindy Shippy Evans