Much like Ellison's character,

I am an Invisible Man;

though not invisible by age or standing-

I hide in plain sight,

an outcast of both my races.

My father's people dismiss me

as a hooligan, like "those others'.

My mother's people think I'm uppity-

full of myself and not conforming to their social norms

of low-riding pants and acting as if

Dr. King's Dream means nothing to them.

I want to correct them both;

I wish so hard they would change

so I wouldn't be ashamed of my white heritage

and the dark color of my skin.

But, to do that, I would have to fall to their levels

telling my father's people to desist on insulting

my black brothers with slurs of the past,

yet at the same time telling my mother's people

the same expletives they call each other

are too good for the likes of them.

So here I stand, an Invisible Man,

watching the world go by.