zoo world

i have found myself being the minority again
as people in shopping malls
and down the school halls
look at me like i'm a zoo
and what will i do?
but play a stereotype
that fits their perceptions
of what they think is an indian

i grow tired of their zebra thoughts
because it is not always so black and white
sometimes chamelion, sometimes ape-like
because every person that's not caucasian
is caged into some type of
ignorant version of what we once were
i am not seen as my own person
as someone puts me into another category
-asking, "are you indian, mexican, or asian?"
check your mark here
it's a zoo out there
it's a zoo in here

because i am seen as some loon
--drunken baboon
and so you will find me swinging
in a jungle gym
you have already defined who i am
but still somehow
two shades away from being a homosapien
it's a zoo out there
it's a zoo in here
after all a monkey
is still a monkey
no matter what it wears

and so the indian puts on a suit
and stands upright
and speaks polite
only then can the white collar world
accept this version of an indian
while the rest of the savages
can just stay on the reservation
where the tourists come
and look around
like people at a zoo
and should we go bananas
when the truth is finally peeled away
to show the past atrocities?
but see-saw-forget it all
as America expects us to live quietly in peace
it's a zoo out there
it's a zoo in here