I do not dwell on your dislike of me,

your blatant confusion and misinterpretation

of who I am but…

I command your respect, wish for you

a purification of the wrongful judgment

you were born to bear against me

without any real understanding of what

your hateful words and misguided opinions

do to another human being.

I am saddened by your blind following of the

hate preached in your home, your pulpit,

your television, your inability to construct

new beliefs, which would rise from the scattered

ashes of those who died in search of your acceptance.

I will not pray for you because God did not create

this ignorance, this spite, this lack of motivation

instead I will be unembarrassed, unashamed of

who I am until the moment you open your beautiful eyes for

the first time and see the colors swirling around you and soak them

in through every pore populating your skin, commune with the compassion

that surrounds your body your mind until the empathy becomes

your own. For this will be the day you, she, he, me, become

Us.