More Than This by Aaryan Mukherjee

I’m judged on my face value,

there’s no denying

that I’m not given my voice,

as if I am lying

that I am this, and that, and so much more,

What’s wrong with that? Can’t you see that I am more?

Open your eyes, and see that you can’t judge me

I have no destiny, you can’t even try to control me

I am who I am, take it or leave it

My face isn’t my identity

Why won’t you see?

I am more than this

There’s no changing that

I may look different

I may speak different

I may act different

But at the end of the day,

I don’t care what you say,

Because I am more than this

Talk to me, ask me “What do you like?”

Who knows? We both might bike

Or hike, and there! We’re so similar,

What if you didn’t strike the match

You didn’t give the chance, never knowing

I am more than this

We need to understand,

that we are more than this

This charade, this bias, this prejudice

that we are the same, NO

We are more than this

“Where are you from? Where are you really from?”

How do you care?

I am more than this

Judge me not by my skin, nor my gender, nor my age,

But by my accomplishments

There is more to me than what meets the eye

I’m not your everyday “foreign” kid

I am more than this

Because my identity is defined by me

I blaze my own path, fate, and personality

I hope this makes you believe

I am more than this