Where I'm From
I am more than just a yellow face
"Oh another Asian"
"He's foreign"
"He can't speak English"
Have I already been put in place?
"He must be from China?"
"He must be from Korea?"
"He must be from Vietnam?"
"No, Japan, perhaps?"
That's not where I'm from
I've never seen my motherland
I've never seen the great walls
I've never seen the temples
the towns, cities or malls
It's not where I'm from
I was raised in New Zealand
I was raised in South Auckland
Mangere
Papatoetoe
Manurewa
I was raised on dollar chips
I was raised on spray cans
Graffiti
Slang
Rap and Hip Hop
Am I just a foreigner?
No
Am I just a tourist?
No
Am I just a china man?
No
I am a kiwi
I'm from New Zealand
This is where I'm from
Go Kiwis!
ReplyDeleteI love being a Kiwi.
I can really identify with this, though as a descendant of the dominating colonial culture, my experience has no doubt been very different from your own.
I love the clearness of your assertions here and the selective use of images.
Well done,
Esther :)
I think this poem is similar to what Asians still experience in NZ. I was born in NZ too and have never been to China. Heck, I only speak English. Yet because of my appearance, people still ask me where I am from. Some people even ask me if I know how to speak English! I do feel that some people need to realize that some Asians are born and bred in NZ.
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