"Labeled" - Bahamas AI Art
©A. Derek Catalano
Don't Label Me
You see a face, a style, a stride,
And think you know the soul inside.
You reach for stickers, ink, and pen,
To sort me in a little den.
With narrow terms and boxed-in thought,
You seek to trap what can’t be caught.
But look again, and look more deep,
Before you take that mental leap.
Don’t label me with shorthand words,
Like silhouettes of phantom birds.
I am a map with shifting coast,
A living breath, no hollow ghost.
I am the sum of all I’ve been,
The wars I’ve lost, the grace I’ve seen.
There is no tag that you can buy,
To pin me like a butterfly.
I am a river, not a lake,
Defined by every turn I take.
Today I’m fire, bright and bold,
Tomorrow, water, deep and cold.
I carry lineages of light,
And shadows from the blackest night.
I am a scholar and a fool,
A jagged edge, a steady tool.
