Hey yo!!!!!! Fatso…..boof…..shortie…..nerd
Call me by my name
Call me by the name I call myself
I don’t need you dictating
who I am and who I'm not
What’s with all the labels?
Is my name not enough?
That I need a ton of others
to make me myself
That you choose to put in me
a word to term my value
Can’t you just call me by my name?
Nothing simpler than this
I prefer my own identity
To the one you choose to force upon me
I refuse;
to become what you speak of me to be
to accept the “terms” you’ve set aside for me
So call me by my name
Long bones…..sissy…..tomboy….Alshabaab
I can feel their eyes on me,
weighing me up
Quietly matching me
to their assortments of this and that
Placing my dark complexion
on a colour chart of worth
Then putting me in a tight-marked jar
Once their judgment is complete
Specimen 461-nyapoli of the north,
shortido, nyashless, blackness,
Mr. Sunshine yellow
Bwat ……mama wattle……aunty sexy……mama nyash
Shall I feel obliged at the sound of these “terms”?
The closest form of compliments
that escape from your tongues
NO THANKS;
My name is enough
I refuse to hinge my joys
on the approval from your mouth
I think it would be toxic
to validate my achievements on your words
On the terms you etch upon my face
Like it’s so hard to call me by my name
-Aol Abigail Lee
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