Experiment in human perception: <br />Change your name to something different <br />And suddenly it is perceived <br />That your writing itself has changed; <br />Become darker, depressive; even suicidal. <br />The same words, emotions as before, <br />Now clothed in a gothic, demonic flavor, <br />By the simple association with a different name; <br />Nothing more or less than a collection of letters- <br />The 'd's not from dendrites, <br />The 's's not from synapses. <br />Were the Salem witch hunts inclusive in our very DNA? <br />Because no one can ever see inside a man's heart, <br />Only his clothing and name are visible; <br />And both can be combusted, at the whim of society, <br />Of whom no one person can know it's motives. <br />How can it be trusted, telling nobody it's name or mission? <br />Yet my name is out there for the whole world to see. <br />The different will always be searched out, persecuted, <br />Whether in school, or the world at large, <br />Whether in 1940's Germany or 21st Century America. <br />That's how it starts. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Jan.2 2010<br /><br />Patti Masterman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/experiment-in-human-perception/
