“Where I’m From” by Jessica Hoang

By one life, live it



I am from purses,
from Pink and pedicures. 

I am from the trips to dance lessons.
(Sweaty, painful,
they weren’t just about pretty hair and makeup.)

I am from the “We can do it!”
the 11 by 14 poster
whose message I live by  
with everything I do.

I’m from bedazzled bows and uniforms,
          from Twisters and Worlds.
I’m from the 3 hour practices
          and the days off,
from “Don’t get mad, get better.”

I’m from Friday night’s games
          with blue and red poms poms
          and the National Anthem.

I’m from SaiGon pho and rice.
From the English as second language classes
          to Vietnamese-English dictionary,
the family I left for a brighter future.

There’s a dusty album
not fully filled with pictures,
a capturer of memories
to remind me of the good and bad ones.
I am from those pages--
some full, some empty--
far from completed.

May 1, 2016

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