New world, new faces, new things to see,

All over are people, people like me.

"No, they're different," I hear from above.

"Like these two men here, they don't know love.

And these "it"s over here with their fingers entwined,

It's male or female, at birth assigned!

These over here who say all should be equal,

And those who reject all the words from the steeple.

If those with a head scarf catch you in their glance,

They'll kill you on sight if they get the chance.

Those who swear by that lie, evolution,

Those who claim damage from human pollution,

Those who seek refuge and those who hug trees,

All these I list, they are a disease.

They're not like us," says the voice from up high,

"They're mistaken, they're wrong, how they live is a lie."

So I accept my new teaching and quicken my stride,

Until all the questions burst out from inside.

 

How could they truly be something so vile

When all those around them find them worthwhile?

"Brainwashed," says the voice from behind,

"And if you approach them that's all that you'll find."

But they seem fine from afar as I peer,

So I cast back my teaching and start to draw near.

A welcome, a talk, and I learn from each one,

And I can't tell which stories were so falsely spun.

For I've learned all my life that these people were wrong,

Their lives built on lies and how crooked their song.

Through my eyes as a child they used to be freaks,

Who I would shun and avoid through the years and the weeks.

 

But after it all, now all that I see,

Are people.

People like me.