Don't Insult My Intelligence Poem by Mario, Lucien, Rene Odekerken

I see the weight behind your words,
the careful tilt of your smile,
the spaces where truth should live but doesn't.

You soften the edges,
dress assumptions in kindness,
as if I won't notice the shape
of condescension beneath.

I hear what you do not say,
the pauses that hold meaning,
the quiet belief that I am less than
I am.

But I have measured the world,
held its questions in my hands,
and I will not shrink
to fit your version of me.