Two brown eyes, black hair <br />Asian <br />A unique sensation: <br />using a foreign tongue <br />in this Chinese mouth. <br />In fact my palate <br />is rather <br />South-East Asian. <br />Not surprising then <br />that I have Tropical Feet: <br />grown too big from going <br />barefoot too much <br />in Singapore. <br />For eleven years. <br />So I am quite distinctly <br />un-banana. <br />Never lived in <br />America. <br />(Not yet, anyway.) <br />I have tough yellow skin <br />but my insides are mushy <br />with durians <br />(they stink <br />but they taste so good) <br />and English literature <br />(some of which <br />is almost good enough <br />to eat <br />Mmm... sonnets) <br />But I think I am most fond of <br />green tea <br />The expensive Chinese kind. <br />So while my tongue is English <br />my feet Singaporean <br />and my insides a mish-mash <br />of both cultures <br />(with a little Japanese thrown in) <br />I appear to appreciate <br />the finer points of <br />ancient China. <br />And so when I visit <br />the Land of the Smokers, <br />Communists <br />and Pirates (of the software-and-DVD sort) : <br />my tongue brings me status <br />my feet exorcise me <br />(I am no longer a Fake Foreign Devil) <br />and I can safely enjoy <br />my Chinese tea <br />(again I stress - the expensive sort) . <br />But some people see <br />in Yellow-and-White <br />So my insides <br />are always confused <br />because they are <br />neither Yellow <br />nor White. <br />They're kind of brown <br />(from all the sun) <br />but maybe that color <br />doesn't exist. <br />I don't use chopsticks <br />quite as well as I would <br />if I were yellow inside. <br />I speak Chinese <br />a bit too well as I would <br />if I were white inside. <br /> <br />I think I like <br />being brown.<br /><br />Yiling Ding<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/self-portrait-12/
