Enjoy the poem that won first prize this year in my annual poetry contest for teens between cultures.
the child of a stranger by Wendy, China/USA, age 17
at birth I was offered up to this country, some
innocent and
crawling appeasement
subject to the laws and
dreams of its
people.
but my body holds the lines of your
country and my
country
unevenly. I cannot melt the borders
into one. I am no melting
pot. these borders are edged with
barbed wire.
I cannot fuse these patches of
redwhiteandblue with
yellowstarsandred. I cannot blend
the statue of liberty and the
great wall into something
monumental. the lakes will not
coalesce together. I cannot move mountains.
you
were born under a plated sun and
I under the snow. born half a world away,
I
sew together these borders with
clumsy fingers,
you
hold my fingers steady.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy via Creative Commons.
the child of a stranger by Wendy, China/USA, age 17
at birth I was offered up to this country, someinnocent and
crawling appeasement
subject to the laws and
dreams of its
people.
but my body holds the lines of your
country and my
country
unevenly. I cannot melt the borders
into one. I am no melting
pot. these borders are edged with
barbed wire.
I cannot fuse these patches of
redwhiteandblue with
yellowstarsandred. I cannot blend
the statue of liberty and the
great wall into something
monumental. the lakes will not
coalesce together. I cannot move mountains.
you
were born under a plated sun and
I under the snow. born half a world away,
I
sew together these borders with
clumsy fingers,
you
hold my fingers steady.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy via Creative Commons.