Hold Your Judgement Poem by Joanna Amiteye

I may be just that child
Who lives in the town
Where school dropouts reign
But I am not a truant

I may be just that child
Who lives in that suburb
Where majority live by begging
But I am not a beggar

I may just be that boy
Who lives in the street
Where all heinous crimes are rife
But I am not a criminal

I may just be that boy
Who lives in the ghetto
Where every hard drug is sold
But I am not a drug user

I may just be that boy
Who lives in the slum
Where  ex-convicts abound
But I am not a jailbird

I may be just that girl 
Who lives near that brothel
Where every sex worker began
But I am not a prostitute

I may be just that girl
Who enters that clinic
Where every pregnancy is aborted
But I am not an abortee

Sometimes circumstances
thrust people into situations
and cast a shadow that is not
true of their real selves.

Until you zoom in and zoom out
the images you have,  
hold your judgement!