I am from the collection of lip balms

From lemon-scented hand soaps

and shoes with bows

I am from the house

only a lighter brown than our neighbors’

I am from the bonsai palm tree

always well taken care of

From the euphorbia plant

whose thorns pierced me

endless times.

 

I’m from pigging out

 and endless storytelling

From Norma and Ligaya

(meaning happiness in Filipino)

I am from cooking appetizing dishes

 and endless rounds of mahjong.

 

I am from dreaming big

 and wishing upon shooting stars

From being told that history repeats itself

I’m from family gatherings

never missing a second Sunday

I’m from a country of 7,100 islands,

proud people who call themselves Pinoys

and feasts with Seafood and Lechon.

 

I am the little girl

ashamed of what she called her father

She was trying to fit in by calling him daddy

Little did she know

he stood by her, listening

Endless times she’s reminded

You should’ve called him Tatay after all

Because endlessly he makes me guilty

Like the disappointment

he must’ve felt in me.