"Your Narrative Against Mine" is Part Two in Hannah Marie's poetry collection, Name Change. The collection addresses complexities associated with change. "Your Narrative Against Mine" shows the contradictions between perceived narratives of who Hannah Marie is and the narratives she knows to be true.
Hannah Marie is a native of Natchez, MS. A local poet and a former music teacher, she graduated from Alcorn State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Music Education. She and her husband, Jacoby Gilmore, are the founders of The Quarantine Ministry, an outreach ministry based in Natchez, MS and Dallas, TX.
"Your Narrative Against Mine"
Collection: Name Change
Go on.
Paint me.
Paint me with all of the colors on your pallet.
Still, you will never come close to the colors of my soul.
You can try to write my life,
Use all the words in your vocabulary.
But your darkest words will never be able to describe my woes,
And your brightest words will never know how grand I am.
I know you think you have me figured out.
You’ve written my autobiography,
Forged my signature,
And sold it for the world to read.
And that’s okay.
It's okay because I know who I am now.
I know that it doesn’t matter how many people try to narrate,
They will never be able to tell the full story.
It's okay because my life will never walk to a song composed by anyone else other than my God.
And by God’s own strength,
I will never bow to anyone else’s opinions of me.
Ever again.
So go ahead.
Paint the canvas.
Sell the book.
I promise mine will be better.
Support
The Magnolia Literacy Project’s
initiative to showcase the writing and art
of Mississippians.
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