‘do you see me’
do you really see me
or do you just see what i wear,
or how I talk and walk
do you see me-
and just believe what you see,
or do you try to look deeper
knowing that there’s more to me-
that i am more than what you see.
because when I look at you,
I see more than what you show-
I see more than what everybody knows.
I see the fear, the insecurities that hide behind your face.
but do you see me?
do you see what hides behind my face?
or how I purse my lips when I fail to say what I feel,
how I look over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of you,
how I gulp back the confessions that find a way to my tongue.
do you see me-
and just believe what you see,
or do you know that it’s just a picture that I have painted?
that the words that come out of my mouth-
are a part of a masquerade.
stop right there and
take off my mask.
see me for who I really am,
not for who you think I am.
don’t just see me
for what I show you and
for what you know.
tear my flesh and dismantle my bones-
and see me for my soul alone.
Aiman Malik
Class X
