Self

Self-perception rides over
Race, ethnicity, language and
All because of how we are raised,
Our self-identity we carry with us is
Based on our first five years mixed
With insight, reflection and after
Experience on life’s rocky road.
I am a Christian in that I have
Heard the divine message
Of Jesus and believe in
Forgiveness and love
For our neighbors,
I am a Jew by
Birth and my
Mother’s
Habit of
Rational objective
Analysis over blind faith
Except in the case of chocolate.
A little madness is needed to
Handle life and love rather
Than be too clever trying
To look under the plate
Or weighing every
Thing by moral
Codes taught
To us rather
Than our
Own
Sense of
Ethics from
Our heart and
So I am what my
Self-perception tells
Me to be regardless of
Whatever group others may
Want to place me in for their own
Convenience into little boxes of
This or that to fit their brand
Of prejudice they call truth.
I read the words but see
Beyond current fads as
To what they mean to
What they meant to
Say as best they
Could in society
At their time
And place
Glad to
Be an
American
From the USA
Who has the option
To think as I please rather
Than as self-appointed
Authorities tell me I
Should believe and
Free in my soul to
Be the best kind
Of person I can
Be yet with
Respect
For the beliefs
Of others even if
They cannot respect me,
Self-perceptive but not
Self-conscious. So,
Eat chocolate,
Free the en-
Dolphins.