ABC

April 8, 2021

Love from a parent was assumed,
They didn’t feel they had to say it.
Love was expressed other ways,
We didn’t need words to convey it
But as a kid not being from here,
An American-born Taiwanese.
Not hearing it made me confused,
Because we’d hear it on TV.

My father told me to stop crying
If I didn’t it would give me shame,
I told him “Bert said it was okay!”
And he should love me just the same.
We’d navigate how cultures clash
Some things we didn’t understand
We all did the best we could
But it was like standing on flowing sand

In the end we are stronger,
With two cultures to draw upon.
And yet there is more to protect,
Before most of those traditions are gone.
The first generation born in America
We are a bridge between two cultures.
We are an understudied demographic.
Born to pave the way for others.