watercolor thoughts [completed]

xxxxvi | s t a n d a r d s

i tell you that 

it's ridiculous 

i should be ashamed

of my small monolids

and my olive, yellowish skin

that people should be ashamed

of their curly springs

and skin like rich soil

that people should be ashamed

of hooked noses and almond eyes

curly springs remind me of the resilience 

of their ancestors

the stories painted onto their backs

that no book with spines can bear

their skin is beautiful, 

like the dark soil of the earth

that mothers the most beautiful flowers

it reminds me of home, reminds me 

of mother earth, reminds me of the 

first springs after a wildfire. 

hooked noses show determination.

i see fire and pride in these noses 

pointed, rising, toward the sky. 

even the sky is not the limit. 

almond eyes remind me of coffee 

remind me of the conviction it 

takes to rise out of bed and live

a life sometimes you don't want to live. 

almond eyes remind me of warmth,

of love, of failures sinking and turning to

stepping stones, 

hope floats. 

and let me tell you about my country,

where my ancestors are. 

let me tell you about my country

that i know more intimately than any other. 

let me tell you how passionate

we are, let me tell you how hardworking we are

let me tell you how we break our heart

and souls for our goals. let me tell you that

our successes did not come easily. let me 

tell you that my ancestors toiled from dawn 

to night bent over rice paddies trying to

make something out of nothing. let me tell you

how they worked under rain and sun, let me tell

you how they braved leeches, let me tell you how

meticulously they controlled each factor

because rice doesn't simply grow because someone

wants it to grow. let me tell you what we have