I Am An Immigrant
01.29.17 (Pasadena)

Fields of grass and rice in all of my sight
A design in motion fireflies paint that night
While the roosters sing the dawning of light
Some say it’s paradise, I say it’s home in all its might.

But when the million stars in my piece of sky
Began to pale from those of thousands of miles
And the call of life beyond burning in all of mine
I took off clinging to the shadow of light that passed by.

Nestled in my grip are dreams I hitch upon each star
A good life for those left behind days of whose
Will pass embroidered by stories from afar
A medical degree for sister who so loved the world
Great possibilities my hand can never toil
In my land of creaking bamboos and angry monsoons
Of young and old huddled under the sun’s fiery moons.

Once transported in the sky all dreams hung upon the dark
The lights of flame blurred the piece of my anxious sky
As I descended I saw a jewel box of the most precious stones
Each glitter etching the good life I painted in my bones
The city where its stars burn bright on those who are strong.

Faces of people in my heart became faint in the mind
Only voices in the night and the whisper of what binds
The dreams carefully nurtured in all of our grasp
Made my spirit fearless, in new vigor I bask
As I pounded the new land, the box of jewels at hand.