The Wellness Issue: Poetry Roundup

Each issue we feature the pieces of Asian womxn all around the world. Here are this issue’s pieces!

Dear Asian Girl by Stephanie Hu

Dear Asian Girl,
Let me tell you a story 
She was young, at first
Young and proud, at first.
Roots nurtured by her ancestors,
she would lie on the ground
to soak up their wisdom.
Short, stubby branches reached out 
to touch their souls
and she would feel the life 
that once danced on this sacred land.
She would taste the golden nectar of her language
from the seeds her mother planted.
Her pride: the sunlight that fed,
her stories: the sweet water that nurtured,
her traditions: the soil—a structure of all things beautiful. 

But soon, her branches grew, 
grew into the unknown,
And she went into the world 
in search of greener pastures,
But instead she found dying roots.                                                        

Savage—they called her
Chink, Paki, Dink, Gook, Raghead.
They claimed she stung with her thorns
But they didn’t know her thorns were her beauty
And they tainted her sunlight, until the fire burned her insides
Casted a dry spell until it robbed her of her water
Stole her fruit,
Snapped her branches, 
Colonized her soil.
Until her songs became only a faint memory on her lips
And her stories, stayed forgotten dreams

But Dear Asian Girl,
Do not forget where you came from.
Lie on the ground again and 
turn back the clock.
Revisit your mother’s kitchen,
fill the air with notes of sour and sweet, 
And feel prickles of spice soothe your throat

And Dear Asian Girl, 
you know you’re home. 
Like that of a child,
let your people’s lullaby sing you to sleep,
Harmonize to a chorus so sweet
That you can taste the wonders on your tongue

Because Dear Asian Girl,
We sing our tunes in different tongues
Different swirls and different drums
beat the same beat, 
Our hearts still beat the same beat
And together, Asian girl, we create our own harmony- 
A battle cry so loud, 
you can hear it in your chest when you breathe
and smell the burning fire when you scream  

Look around you, 
see how far we’ve come?
Well dear Asian girl, 

we’ve only just begun.