I am a Jew

I am a Jew, says the hidden star around my neck,
Ashamed to conceal it so, after all we had to trek.
I am a Jew, says the text I’m told to look up to,
עם קשה עורף הוא
I am a Jew, says the blood that flows through my veins,
A lineage traced and followed, filled with horrible stains.
I am a Jew, says the peers I never thought knew,
Got the nose for it, they say, and the mouth of one, too.

I am not a Jew, says the prayers I cannot yet recite,
A tongue so foreign, filled with words I can’t seem to get right.
I am not a Jew, says the way my love tends to sway,
Something so many have said that I must pray away.
I am not a Jew, says the words that fall from my lip,
An identity that so many, not just me, have tried to strip.
I am not a Jew, says the Monster in my heart—
For why would one want to be a part of this hated art?