Hafu, Ainoko, Konketsuji ~ half breed.
Not full, not whole, derived to explain,
what we are not.

We are perceived as that which doesn't exist,
doesn't belong in either culture,
though we come from both, we are not,
welcome in neither.

We are mixed - mixed up, mixed breeds, muddled and impure.

I am lucky, I guess.
I can pass for one and there is only an trace of the other.
But the truth is, I am whole - not half.

Born in the land of the world's melting pot,
I learned at birth that slant eyed white people
are an unwanted minority ~ Nisei.

Always separated, always different,
always them and oh so seldom,
us or we.

Only marginalized and minority people
truly know what that means,
and how that feels.

It cannot be explained,
nor thoroughly understood
until you are one of - them -
one of - those -

The looks, the glances and stares ~
detected, even through the wall,
we know is there.

Some speak in terms of glasses,
half full or half empty.
They say it is about choices,
about perceptions, views
But they have not seen the world
through half slant eyes.

Sudo Nym ~ Poet in Motion
Copyright August, 2011
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