a vessel not mines

By Princeton Chiu

I’m a person, trapped in a body. 

A vessel, just not meant for me. 

What everyone says is a meaningless prosody. 

When I can’t even look at my reflection in the wide blue sea. 

In the mirror, I see a person. 

Staring back at me, with pitiful eyes. 

Breathing in and out, like disappointed sighs. 

When your reflection shows a person that’s not you. 

You can be sure that your life is not true. 

In ignorance, their conservative phobia spills through. 

As if words of cruelty wrapped in sour morning dew.

For comfort, I hug- a blue white shark. 

Valid. Invalid. I’m not even sure. 

Faking smiles you can’t call pure. 

Inside it all, beneath it all:

Lies a person blocked behind a wall.

Rationale: This poem explores identity and how people might feel with their own body, themselves, when their values don't align with what they feel like they are, or want to be. This poem explores how societal norms, phobia and words can hurt people who just want a place in this world. There are specific references in the poem too!