Other

I first saw it when I was in university
as I filled out the form and wondered what is other.
I saw Caucasian, African American, Asian, then other.
I wondered how do I fit in or did I really;
Why the need for classification?
What really was the intent?
Then I wrote in the other – Jamaican.

O. Stephen Peart. 2021 © All rights reserved

About this Poem
Have you ever had to complete a form and not sure what classification to choose?  Then you select other.  This piece is about the Other.  In our effort to classify based on race, colour, and what seems like an ongoing list, I choose Other, for I am simply a Jamaican, yet “Out of Many, One People”.  I grew up on this motto which was printed on the Jamaican Coat of Arms.  A symbol that reminds me that there is no real classification but rather one people.