this is not your star spangled banner.

i'm not  here to play with you,

i'm just trying to relay to you 

the reality 

of what it is that we go through

and i shouldn't say we, but i do 

because thankfully, 

i'm still relatively free

to go and say and do like i please

the worse it ever comes to

is looks and comments on the streets

and random selections at airport security

and you won't see it on tv,

but there are places where children 

once ran in the streets

and i say ran, because now

instead of bare feet

bombs rain down like 

stars over the sea

women wail over 

those same children's feet,

now not connected to anything

so while they may look like me,

same bridge of nose, same 

color of teeth,

while they might talk like me

and pray like me, 

and come from me,

they are not like me

and i shouldn't say we.

because at least i know 

what it's like

to be a little bit free.