“Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco

"Identity"

Let them be as flowers,
always watered, fed, guarded, admired,
but harnessed ¹ to a pot of dirt.

I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle
wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.

To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea,
carrying my soul, my seed,
beyond the mountains of time or into the abyss of the bizarre ² .

I’d rather be unseen, and if
then shunned ³ by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,
growing in clusters in the fertile valley,
where they’re praised, handled, and plucked
by greedy, human hands.

I’d rather smell of musty, green stench
than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
If I could stand alone, strong and free,
I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed.

Connection Questions

1. How does this poem make you feel? What does it remind you of?
2. In your opinion, what is the speaker’s attitude toward the flowers in the poem? How do you know?
3. In your opinion, what is the speaker’s attitude toward the weed in the poem? How do you know? 

• 1harnessed: tied
• 2abyss of the bizarre: strange and mysterious depths
• 3shunned: avoided