inextricably sound
journey of 6,770 miles,
the voices of the past announce:
she is relevant
her voice belongs.
she is a delight.
her tan skin,
brown and black moles freckle her face
blessed by the West’s salt and sun,
she is delight.
across and between the vast pacific,
bound and tied
from the cusp of both shores
the ancestors shout:
“beautiful country, she is yours!”
“affirm her, challenge her, love her!”
she is delight.
“Mei-guo, she is yours!”
“affirm her, challenge her, love her!”
she is delight.
obligations weighted by history,
molded by untold tales
and heart-kept whispers,
hidden songs and muffled stories.
homes built on uncertain hope,
each grain rises with toil,
masking
the unfamiliar tongues.
identity weighted by Gong-gong and Po-po’s
she takes the stories of souls’ past
threaded collectively
and layered intricately
and moves forth
obeys her curiosity
navigates the voices
and values her desires.
resilient from and reliant on
the gong-gongs and the puo-puos,
the ah-mas and the gu-mahs,
the ba-bas and the mah-mahs,
she rises.
