Orphan Poem by Cheryl L. DaytecYañgot

(for Vanessa)

Stranger, let me bare my heart
It is beached in this strange land
Like a bird resting peacefully
in someone’s nest
Home is not always
Where the heart is
I left home to find my way
Back to it
There, under its roofs
I am lost

I am orphaned from my skin color
And the contours of my nose
My skin is not in my thoughts
But my thoughts are eager to explore my skin

My past is not downstreamed
In my genetic history
I am like a passenger in a bus
Destiny uncertain
My lips’ contour bear no resemblance
to the language they speak
I am desperate to understand
Stories I never heard
And conquer myths
from threads of rejection woven by shame
My parents
see shame etched on my forehead
And the past I want to visit
Their silence eloquently
Reveals their embarrassment
when confronted about their history
By their own skin color, no doubt

(Written for Vanessa, a black American I met on board a Victory Liner Bus traveling from Manila to Baguio City, Philippines; July 2007)