My Life, My Strife

Location

Sacramento
United States

From first glance people automatically assume

Worthless accusations has driven me into fumes

Because of my ethnicity I’m going to exceed every test

Master the skills of everything, can’t even put me to rest

You see they think we don’t even try

When they don’t even know the real story, why we reach for sky high

 

We dreamt of the day that rice and mama noodles

Were tri-tip steak and days spent with doodles

However my parents didn’t have high paying jobs

Bills and taxes came pouring like mobs

Along with raising 6 disobedient children from day to night

Being foreign to the country meant sleeping with night lights

 

They reminisce of the days back in the da’bung (country)

Building their own houses, slurping on kapoon

See we were clueless we couldn’t care less

Than to live the American dream and become princess

But princesses need education too

To refuse the opportunity was to be a fool

 

My parents were not able to improve on this

Immigrating at 22, it was a hit or miss

So it was up to us to do all the giving

To give back to my parents who worked for a living

The privilege of being able to further your ability

Was a stepping stone to increasing mobility

 

But life didn’t come so easy to please

The love within my family soon left like a breeze

Rage and hatred were shot like assaults

Leaving everyone feeling as if they were at faults

Hugs and kisses had no effect to last

With time grew distance with memories of the past

 

As a minority we are a small part of society

Without love and respect we fall apart undeniably

A sentence cannot be said and conversations didn’t last

That’s why I set out to find my forgotten past

 

In order to reach our goals means to have an education

If that means to try my hardest I will show my dedication

People don’t understand that we grew up with nothing

Constantly hoping that one day there will be something

For us to reach our goals and to live a brilliant life

This is what I aim for, for my parents, my family, my strife

This poem is about: 
Me
My family
My community
Our world

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