Hello my name is…

Says the top of a label

Red border, white font

A blank centre for you to fill and

For you to flaunt

Your first name,

Last name

An acclaim to your driving flame.

There’s all the unused things you want to write

On the right unused paper.

One-hundred percent original.

It’s an introduction without misconception

As I give you a wave and on a label

I Sharpie all I want you to call me

First name

And last name - if you want some formality

But somewhere along… I got more labels

Than I asked for.

We all got more labels.

Based on the fables they told

About us

With each word a half-betrayal

Mixed with half-truths and

Inaccurate portrayals

They called me names that weren’t my own

Based on lone pieces of gossip overblown

Into blows to my reputation.

And my realization is that they stick.

Hello my name is…

Ugly.

Isn’t that the ugly reality?

That my classmates say my face’s a catastrophe?

Hello my name is…

Stupid.

For the grades on my report

Didn’t reach the A+ sort - I blew it

Hello my name is…

Nerd.

‘Cause you say I pay too much attention in school

You laugh when I try too hard avoiding detentions

Hello my name is…

Weirdo.

Freak.

Emo.

Geek.

There’s more to you and I

Than these titles they apply

So rip off all the labels

That crush you,

That burden you,

That leave you falling

Only you know your own person

And your true calling

Strange thing is

Out of all these labels

They’ve put on my skin,

There’s only one that’s stuck

Thick and thin

Beyond the hallway whispers

Hey.

You see the sharpie?

First name, last name

Always the same.

Hello our name isn’t…

Ugly.

Hello our name isn’t…

Stupid.

Hello our name isn’t…

Nerd.

Not weirdo. Not freak.

Hello my name is…

It’s right here on this label.

Can’t you see it?

Can’t you see it?