go back to the gas chambers they yell

pick up those coins they laugh

nice nose they snicker

these words are forever encrypted into her mind

replaying every time someone makes a comment

about her religion  

jew

jew

jew!

a young child now living

with a scar on her heart

for those words cut deep

they cut hard

hard

she fell hard onto her knees

when they cornered her in a parking lot

yelling

she looked up at one of the boys

a boy she knew from her synagogue

she had been to his bar mitzvah

a boy who was now scared to be himself

scared of what society would say about him

scared of the names his friends would call him

of how one word can define who you are

they say there is no discrimination

against what religion you believe in

but why do we still fight wars

people die everyday for having faith in their own god  

why do kids make fun of each other

spewing out hateful words they don’t even understand

why even today at school

are there comments in the halls

about violent muslims

ignorant christians

greedy jews

words that will stay in our heads

words that will make us conform

conform to what society will accept

and soon we walk down those overcrowded halls

monotonous robots all the same

all the same is lifeless

all the same will get us no where

all the same might keep us surviving

but we will never be thriving

i will not accept all the same

so to those kids in that parking lot i have a message for you

what you said found a place in my heart

a place that has made me stronger

a place that helped me get up off my knees

and stand up for what i believe in

i believe in

christianity, catholicism, hinduism, agnosticism,

atheism, islam, buddhism, mormonism

hinduism, sikhism, and judaism     

religion is not something to be ashamed of

it does not define who we are

it will not define who I am