This poem is a refusal. A clear-eyed, sharp-tongued, rhythmically assured refusal to be labelled, sorted, shelved, or understood on anyone else’s terms. Annette Gagliardi pushes back against the modern compulsion to advertise the self through social media, political signage, identity performance and insists on something harder to hold: a person who will not be reduced to a handle, a scandal, or a convenient category. The closing invocation of the parable of the blind men and the elephant is not incidental – it is the poem’s whole argument, made sudden and luminous. At its heart, this poem embodies the spirit of Poets & Peace: that identity is not a billboard, and a human being is always more than others want to judge or label them.
I’m No Billboard
There’s no racial tiara grazin’ my fair head.
No ethnic epitaph hovers over my bed.
There’s no pressed-down-upon weighing too heavy on me.
No wounds nor scars from my past, revealed for all to see.
My political views aren’t for sale,
on my shirt’s front, nor my car’s tail.
My FaceBook profile shouts no veneer
nothing really to keep you here.
I don’t have a website with witty repartee,
and collections of photos of my friends and me.
No links to various causes I need, to feel adored.
I won’t advertise myself like some freaking billboard.
I don’t have the need to open my mouth sideways,
and frost the facts of my life, like a sugared glaze.
I don’t want to provide you with a convenient handle
so you can contain who I am, with one simple scandal,
then create a suitcase rendition of myself
so you can set me safely on your closet shelf.
I don’t want you to say, ‘Oh! You’re one of them.’
then feel confident about yourself.
And then, look at me with that tone,
like you have always known.
That’s who I really was and where I’ve been,
while you wait for me to come ‘round again.
Well, I’m the elephant and you’re the blind ten
curiously looking into my playpen,
searching for the answers to my social display,
thinking you got me pegged with your braille survey.
Poet Details
Annette Gagliardi
Teacher, Author, Poet Minnesota, USA
Annette is a poet whose work has earned recognition across literary circles, including two Pushcart nominations, a PenCraft Literary Excellence Award, a Literary Titan Gold Book Award, and an International Impact Award. She is currently serving as Poet Laureate for the League of MN Poets (2025–2027), and her chapbook Benevolence, winner of the John C. Rezmersky Award, launched in April 2026.
