E Pluribus Unum
(Scholastic Regional Honorable Mention 2014)
On my face white brightens a spectrum
And the color blots itself around and
Around my mouth like an equator.
Compass in hand I circumnavigate--
Cardinal direction nowhere
My chin at first glance a perfect, subtle W,
But grotesquely offset on my profile.
They try to label me, to stamp a pledge
On my forehead, my body a straight,
Slender monument--and nothing
Worth commemorating inside.
But I resist and the name is
Stripped from my cell, for the humdrum goulash
Of my facade is my inner complexion as well--
A sharp-shooting coin offering no reward.
The superficial is my defining factor:
Those honest, Abe Lincoln eyes
And the smooth edges,
My copper nose and my solid chin.
The shiny trim and the bolded difference
alienate me like a strange and enticing sculpture:
empty-handed, a portrait of worthlessness.
And the color blots itself around and
Around my mouth like an equator.
Compass in hand I circumnavigate--
Cardinal direction nowhere
My chin at first glance a perfect, subtle W,
But grotesquely offset on my profile.
They try to label me, to stamp a pledge
On my forehead, my body a straight,
Slender monument--and nothing
Worth commemorating inside.
But I resist and the name is
Stripped from my cell, for the humdrum goulash
Of my facade is my inner complexion as well--
A sharp-shooting coin offering no reward.
The superficial is my defining factor:
Those honest, Abe Lincoln eyes
And the smooth edges,
My copper nose and my solid chin.
The shiny trim and the bolded difference
alienate me like a strange and enticing sculpture:
empty-handed, a portrait of worthlessness.