When "Sarap!" is all I know

A Filipino breakfast, with

Kamatis, tomatoes, chopped

and swimming in

Suka, vinegar

A perfect match for my

Bangsilog, it’s

Milkfish, rice, and eggs. It’s

One bite and I'm

Home

Adobo, lumpia, pansit palabok, dinuguan, pinakbet

Let me give you the grand tour of my mother's kitchen

Leche flan, brazo de Mercedes, polvoron, champorado

A true melting pot of food, borrowing Spanish names

The Tagalog words that roll off my tongue as if I'm fluent

Are everything that has touched my taste buds

That demanded itself to be named

And remembered.

Although the words of my parents' country feel

Unfamiliar to my palate

When instead I struggle to find the right translation

Unable to form

full

sentences

This is still my food

My culture

My home

And my soul remains hungry for

More.