Name Tags: I am...

When you meet someone, you introduce yourself
When you're in a group, you might get those stickers
Hi! My name is: Stephanie, Taylor, Megan, Michael, Sam
Whatever you go by, that's what you say
But what if one day, someone else filled out for name tag for you?
Instead of labeling you by your name,
They brand you with descriptions, burning words into your skin
So everyone sees those words and believes, spreading the rumors like wildfire
Until eventually, your name doesn't exist anymore
You are what they say. Just imagine that.

Hi! My name is: Goth
I was nine years old when they gave me this title.
They noticed that I didn't smile as much as the other kids
I always wore black with my school uniform
"No," I'd say, "That's just my hair"
But they wouldn't listen
All of the fourth grade saw me as Goth
I began to change, I started wearing a black necklace to fit the image
The next year,

Hi! My name is: Bully
I didn't understand why they didn't keep this name for themselves
But what did I do? I changed.
I made myself into what they wanted
They controlled my actions like a puppeteer with bloody chains
Forming their ideal "bully"
So when they wanted to argue, I'd argue
When they wanted felt happy, I made them sad
Until they cut the strings
Leaving me in a crumpled heap
They kept kicking me while I was down
They were heroes for bringing down the monster
In my humiliation, my fellow ten-year-olds tagged me

Hi! My name is: Animal
They watched as I clawed at my cage
Taking pictures of "The Wild Ramsey" in its natural habitat
I was miserable and trapped and lost and worst, I was an 'it'
They were beasts, but they stripped away my humanity
Claws grew from a musicians fingers
Fangs grew from a young girl's lips
No one missed who I used to be
No one even bothered to see my misery
They pointed and laughed and threw me bones
Like an inmate in a zoo, tortured, alone
I'd howl at night and I'd lash out in fear
They caretakers learned never to come near
Not that they'd want to
So at the end of the year, we took separate paths
I was shipped off to an alien 'middle school'

I was free of their names for me
For the first hour of 6th grade, people only called me Stephanie
 

Second period, science class
"Hey, look! It's the Wild Ramsey!"

No, that's not who I am, that's not me
No, that's not, Stephanie, no, wait
That's not Stephanie? Yes! No, wait, it's not Stephanie
I'm Stephanie, I'm me, not it
I'm not it, it's not me
Stephanie Ramsey, that's me
I'm not Wild, I'm not an animal, I don't have claws or fangs
I decide who I am
I will show you, I am Stephanie Ramsey

Hi! My name is: Emo
At age 11, I learned that I could not change their minds
Rather, they'd find new ways to define me
They saw who I was with the red initials on my arm
Carved into my skin for everyone to see
It didn't help me at all.
Yes, they stopped calling me names
But only because I'd given myself my own
They called me a freak because I'd proven it true
All that they said, i already knew
Their words didn't hurt me like they used to
So I hurt myself instead
Blood dripping, jaw-dropping, eyes dropping closed
Rage filling, knives falling, life failing, no note
I'm Lonely, please, I need somebody to hold me!

Hi! My name is: slut
I looked for comfort in the wrong places, wrong faces
I hate this, no one could ever love the Wild Ramsey
So I believe anyone who says "I love you, fuck me"
So I did, and I do.
I lost my virginity at 15
But with all these names that claim to know who I am,
Life is the only thing that screwed me over

If I had a time machine, I'd go back to that first day in fourth grade
To wipe my slate clean
I'd show them who I really am

Hi! I am a musician, an artist, an athlete, a poet, a lover

Hi! I am everything you say I'm not

Hi! My name is: Stephanie Ramsey

And I am me.