She is one of the lucky ones
Accepts her heritage
Not the only fish in school
who looks like 中國
she isn't told to "get the hell out"
of the only home she's ever known
Pin straight waterfalls of midnight
that refuses to curl around others
hardened onyx gems, her soul
pinched like steamed 小龍包
Flown to her motherland
for once, nobody points out they're all asian
or assumes that they are born geniuses & "overachievers"
heard the zither mourn and dance
fierce dragons and friendly lions adorning pagodas
dollar popsicles relieving the sun's glare
a monkey hopping through the night markets
gathering all the pieces history books don't say
"banana", they joke too loudly
banana, resounds in her ears
香蕉，she flings hatefully into herself
clinging to English subtitles
so much is lost in translation
if she is American,
does that make her less Chinese?
If she is Chinese,
does that make her less American?
which comes first, the 海外,
or the 華人？
No matter where she turns
she is a dragon with nowhere to land
even though she's never eaten a dog (or a snake, or a rat for that matter)
she don't gorge herself on McD's, & is not outrageously disrespectful
美國
"America the Beautiful"
her warbled youth sang in school
She has seen the purple mountains
towering over, protecting her,
all her life
Shing seas have tousled her hair
as she frolicked in playful waves
when she hears America,
she thinks "Home"
China
中國, the Middle Country
是她的祖人的家
她自己的故鄉
it is encrypted in her DNA
tattooed to her forehead
weaved into her veins
her source, her history
the red center square of her expanding quilt
and she will climb the picturesque peaks inked in scrolls
until her lips spill forth 中文 seamlessly
and although America has dyed her ideals,
her lotus roots have been planted in its soul,
and 美國 is the country she calls home
on her wedding day,
she will not be in a pouffy white dress
after all, white is the color of death
no, she is kneeling to her 父母
in a gorgeous red gown
covered with dragons and threaded with gold
hair twined by a traditional jade pins
offering up a cup of 茶
she is one of the lucky ones
Accepts her heritage
Not the only fish in school
who looks like 中國
she isn't told to "get the hell out"
of the only home she's ever known
Pin straight waterfalls of midnight
that refuses to curl around others
hardened onyx gems, her soul
pinched like steamed 小龍包
Flown to her motherland
for once, nobody points out they're all asian
or assumes that they are born geniuses & "overachievers"
heard the zither mourn and dance
fierce dragons and friendly lions adorning pagodas
dollar popsicles relieving the sun's glare
a monkey hopping through the night markets
gathering all the pieces history books don't say
"banana", they joke too loudly
banana, resounds in her ears
香蕉，she flings hatefully into herself
clinging to English subtitles
so much is lost in translation
if she is American,
does that make her less Chinese?
If she is Chinese,
does that make her less American?
which comes first, the 海外,
or the 華人？
No matter where she turns
she is a dragon with nowhere to land
even though she's never eaten a dog (or a snake, or a rat for that matter)
she don't gorge herself on McD's, & is not outrageously disrespectful
美國
"America the Beautiful"
her warbled youth sang in school
She has seen the purple mountains
towering over, protecting her,
all her life
Shing seas have tousled her hair
as she frolicked in playful waves
when she hears America,
she thinks "Home"
China
中國, the Middle Country
是她的祖人的家
她自己的故鄉
it is encrypted in her DNA
tattooed to her forehead
weaved into her veins
her source, her history
the red center square of her expanding quilt
and she will climb the picturesque peaks inked in scrolls
until her lips spill forth 中文 seamlessly
and although America has dyed her ideals,
her lotus roots have been planted in its soul,
and 美國 is the country she calls home
on her wedding day,
she will not be in a pouffy white dress
after all, white is the color of death
no, she is kneeling to her 父母
in a gorgeous red gown
covered with dragons and threaded with gold
hair twined by a traditional jade pins
offering up a cup of 茶
she is one of the lucky ones
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