‘do you see me’

‘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