Multi-cultural poems by Year 8s

ELIZABETH

They first smile at me

Then ask my name

And my age

Then, very simply, very straightforwardly, they ask me

“Where are you from?”

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

Where am I from?

My passport screams Indian at my name

My mother jokingly calls me Singaporean

My father says I'm getting Malaysian 

My brother? American.

Three countries

Seven schools

Hundreds and thousands of children

Countless people

To remember

And to put at the back of my mind.

Wishes
Oaths
Childhood dreams
Still there 
But the others seem to have forgotten
Once you moved
They barely know you when you're back
And it's difficult to make new friends

Irritation

            Confusion 

                            Agitation

And more
Life's not easy

When you're a third culture kid

And they throw the question at you

You want to tell them

“I'm a bit of this, mixed with that.

And a sprinkle of this on top.

Add a pinch of this.

Mix it all up.

And bake.”

But life's not a cake

So you give your standard halfhearted answer.

                                                                         Elizabeth Joseph