Where I'm from,
That has no answer.
My birthplace?
My heritage?
From which school I hail?
All this and more
To where I'm from
I answer
If where I live
Is what you seek,
Then here in Norwalk
Take a peek
To me, it's not that special
Where I live, I just reside
And "home" is but a word
I've acquired
I don't know much about it here.
There's an Oyster Fest each summer, right?
And an aquarium
And those everyday stores,
And yet no mall within 10 miles.
There's the Wheels bus system,
and along the 13 Route is where I live
and along the 41 Route if I'm going to Stamford
But if I want to pay a visit
To friends both old and new
A two-hour trip is in order
To Bridgeport
Woo-hoo
And I suppose that I'm
From there too,
And yet the feeling of belonging I'd had
Left also when we moved
If my answer is
My heritage
Then I'm Filipino
Half, to be exact
And on that note
I'll tell you all about it
Birthed in my imagination
From the bedtime stories of my mother
I thought of people swimming through the streets in the summertime floods
Of how hard it must be to carry your toga to church as you swam,
And of people in boats floating along in the flooding.
Everything was close together,
And from vague childhood memories
I thought of houses right alongside each other,
Of trains running through your back lot,
Of roosters in the morning
Rats as large as cats in the walls
And more recently,
I see the trash in the streets,
Rivers green from who-knows-what kind of pollutants
A day that ends when the sun disappears
A day that starts before the sun rises,
Where the wires are hung haphazardly,
Where Facebook costs less to use to use than wifi
Where food is bought day by day
And eaten meal to meal
And the cats and dogs get the scraps
And yet everyone is happy
My ate works hard to support her family
My kuya studies to become a nurse,
Begging his aunts to fund his schooling
And even where their parents have grown lazy,
The youth work hard for a better tomorrow,
And if you do ask where I'm from,
Perhaps I'll answer the Philippines,
Because it means more to me than a tropical island
You've never heard of.
Wow! Leila this is brilliance. It ame to one of those moments where I just fall deeply into your poem and skate on the smooth ice (of sorts) of your descriptions of your origins. Trust me, this is good. A great, wonderful poem, in my experience, at least the type that you are trying to show, has a flow that never ends and stops abruptly and thhoughtfully only at the last line, like what you did! I love the oddly fairy tale like description of the Phillipines, especially people swimming through the streets to get to church. Also, it is realistic and interesting that you dan't really know WHERE you are from ultimately. Everyone is from many places-is what your poem affirms. you basically set up a new philosophical ideal there. good job!
ReplyDeleteYour poem was really thought provoking. You brought a broader scope on a simple question. I really like that about this poem in particular. I also like the imagery being used in the poem. As the reader I get a real sense on what it was like to live in the Phillipines. I can also feel a strong sense of commitment to your origin especially towards the end. Over all, it was very well executed.
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