The Beautiful

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I am an American
so they say
My colorful cloths and braided hair
suggest that I am an oddity
A victim of a self-righteous odyssey
I'm not those people
I'm an American

I'm an American
though I speak a different language
A barrier that creates intense anguish
Despite my people's supposed animosity
towards society
I love my American
I am American

I am an American
I probably don't look like you
Do I have to validate the truth?
I come from the other side of the world
Where I am not appreciated as a girl
I stared death down
and now I wear the crown
of freedom
of equality
of America

I am an American
in trial and in triumph
I am an American
in hatred and in ridicule
I am an American
through thick and through thin

I am an American
without and within

Now, I digress.

(I don't know where that sudden spark of patriotism came from or where my persistent desire to write poetry is coming from.)