song for the youth

Don't call me "drunk".
Call me "a man with a few drops of alcohol in his veins".
Don't call me "black".
Call me "a man with some extra melanin in his skin".
Don't call me "crazy".
Call me "a man who thinks in a different way".
Don't even call me "a man".
Call me "something that I don't know because it's not me".

Trust me: you don't know me.
All you know are your own thoughts about me.
Forget them.
Forget them and try to think on your own.
Forget them and try to feel on your own.
Forget them and try to look on your own.

And - please! - don't call the doctor nor the police
just because I'm crazy, black or drunk:
they know even less than you
about this vast and complex and changing reality
that doesn't belong to you or me or them.

Forget them
and look into my eyes
before we fall asleep
or die.