Me, a thing-with-features
In the world of things-with-features
Learn to see myself
As others see me
To mould myself to the aspirations
Of family, church, and community

Now condemned to preserve
This precis of myself with its
Roster of injunctions to obey
To constantly prove to myself
And anyone who will listen
That I am what I intend to be

Now mortified that a vital fragment
Of myself has been stripped away in
A little death, a moment of unreality
That this amazing technicolour
Dreamcoat worn with pride
Was cut for Someone of a
Different size, shape, and stride