The Way I Am

The Way I Am - Raneem Abu-Nimeh (Granada Islamic High School, 10th Grade)

We’re all evil

We’re all built with desires

We’re all tainted

Our hearts are black

But I’m more horrible than the rest.

I’m one of the damned–

Shamed by my loved ones

A disgrace to my identity

A loss to the identity I’ve always cherished

If I were still a girl,

I’d cry tears of glass and beg them to understand that it was never my fault

But it is

It is my fault

I was created with wants

A want to be loved

A want to be greater

A want to be myself

Even though I could never tell you who I am

Even though I could never tell you about myself

Even though my wants–my needs-brought us all shame

They could never satisfy my ravenous wants

And the hungry, furious girl in me thought she could harvest fruits to satisfy her hunger

I ate the forbidden fruit

Now, I’m a woman

Now, I’ve fought to spit out the seeds

Thinking it would free me of the lingering desire

Some want me to blame my upbringing

To blame my religion

Blame my country

My gender

But it’s simply the way I am

I was born with thirst for the forbidden fruit

I can blame nothing

Nobody

I’m am lost

That is simply

The way I am.