I am something entirely different from what you know.
I am someone hidden behind a screen and lines of code.
You think you know me; you say you know my name.
but do you really know me?  You hide the thought with shame.
You do not know who I am.

You do not know what I look like,
my hair color, my smile.
You cannot feel the warmth it gives to those in need.
You cannot see my eyes.
The suffering in them, the pain.
Nor have you seen the horrors I have.

You cannot hear my words and what they truly speak.
You cannot see the meaning behind them and behind me.
But you can see my text and what the script conveys.
You read things at face value and furnish it not with your gaze.
You do not know who I am.

You do not know my gender,
my culture, my race.
You do not know what I know and have learned.
You do not know my cunning,
how I think and how I feel.
You cannot fully understand me.

I do not fully understand me, my feelings, my actions.
Can you subdue my thoughts for a second, but a fraction?
You cannot comprehend how greatly I long for silence.
Something, I am afraid, is impossible now.
You do not know why.
You do not know who I am.

There is a ringing, a never-ending sound
I am subject to listen to.
It was not my choice nor was it mine to make.
My hearing is slipping away,
as is my speech.
Soon, my own voice shall atrophy away.
All that's left will be these words
turned to dust.

You do not know my name, my gender, my race.
Nor have you ever seen the features of my face.
I am losing myself and will never again feel the comforts of silence.
Oh, how I long for it.  I long for what I have lost.
Taken for granted.
Forgotten.
Dust.


You do not know
who I am......