My Name by Erica Delane

Delane, whose real name is Erica Delane, is a poet and author who has written three books. Her poetry focuses on mental health and healing, exploring depression, anxiety, and trauma through lived experiences. The poem she has submitted reflects on the realities of what is happening in the world today, calling for unity and awareness. Inspired by childhood memories of her mother singing to her and calling her “my Miss America,” this piece blends personal history with social reflection. Her work centers honesty, resilience, and emotional growth, creating space for conversations many are afraid to have. Her writing can be found in her books and across her platforms here:

https://linktr.ee/ByDelane?utm_source=linktree_admin_share

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My Name                

Hi. My real name is Erica.

You can’t spell America without my name.

You also can’t spell “I am from America” without feeling ashamed of what we’ve become.

Horrific, horror is among us,

like when they hung us, but that was so long ago,

hangs over our head like tomorrow.

But racism was born today,

and yesterday,

also the days before that,

and it’ll still be young the days to come

if we don’t change the format

of our leaders, of our kings and rooks who rule the chess match.

Children are learning the rules of custody

before learning rules of a classroom we use to sit on the floor

and sing, “I don’t want to go to Mexico no more, more,

that’s a big fat policeman at the door, door, door.”

We didn’t understand the thin line,

that there was thin ice between childhood and truth.

But the world is frozen, too stunned to speak,

because people like me, of diversity, scream in silence

because sound may be too much,

but we are afraid, so why is the world so afraid of us?