Do not forget
this flesh still is human
when you cut it with your words
it bleeds red like any other.

These shackles still press tight
but this bone still cracks beneath the weight.
This heart still beats
even when the world shows only skin and bone
like a brittle frame on display for the eyes of strangers
a mere number on screens that do not know my name.

I am sorry
sorry that I dared to dream
sorry that I was born poor
sorry for the dirt beneath my feet
from years of hard work
sorry for the hunger that paints my days
sorry I exist at all.

But do not deny me
do not deny this breath
this pulse that fights in the quiet shadows.
I am not just flesh and bones
though it may seem so
in this light so harsh.

If you still choose to see me as nothing more
then take this flesh
feed your greed
and swallow it whole.

But
I am here
and I will not be invisible.