Jan 2015
“Guttersnipe.”
Now I need clarify that I
Did a lot of white man pandering
When I told the admissions
Officers from Brown that
My grandfather’s
Language is quite
Smelly.
It isn’t.
And I am done romanticizing home
When there is nothing to.
Our language was but
Brevity,
And it got the job done and
**** I can’t
Explain all that in 150 words
That’s why I chose
“Guttersnipe”
For some dramatic effects I don’t
Know to be true.
Their language was dinner table,
And it brought food home,
And it brought smiles on faces
To kids that grew up knowing no other home,
And to men and women not knowing
Where home was and
Providing some level ground as to who what where
When how and why we were as we were:
Quietly walking,
Chinese settlers in
The Philippines.
It was our way of remembering
Who we were.
It reminded
Us that we
Weren’t greater than
Where we came from,
And that doesn’t make us
Any less great.
Hokkien is Hokkien:
My family still uses it
At the dinner table
To kick off conversations.
And pass the food.
Now I need clarify that I
Did a lot of white man pandering
When I told the admissions
Officers from Brown that
My grandfather’s
Language is quite
Smelly.
It isn’t.
And I am done romanticizing home
When there is nothing to.
Our language was but
Brevity,
And it got the job done and
**** I can’t
Explain all that in 150 words
That’s why I chose
“Guttersnipe”
For some dramatic effects I don’t
Know to be true.
Their language was dinner table,
And it brought food home,
And it brought smiles on faces
To kids that grew up knowing no other home,
And to men and women not knowing
Where home was and
Providing some level ground as to who what where
When how and why we were as we were:
Quietly walking,
Chinese settlers in
The Philippines.
It was our way of remembering
Who we were.
It reminded
Us that we
Weren’t greater than
Where we came from,
And that doesn’t make us
Any less great.
Hokkien is Hokkien:
My family still uses it
At the dinner table
To kick off conversations.
And pass the food.
I dramatized my college admissions essay describing where and how I grew up. Or rather ran out of words to do what I really wanted to say justice. Whatever. The point is that my life isn't as poetic or dramatic as I'd make it out to be sometimes - and that I'm still struggling to come to terms with that in the way I tell my stories. I mean, they're no less beautiful after all.
Oh, and for those who don't know - Hokkien is a Chinese dialect mainly spoken by residents of Fujian, which happens to be the origin of many Chinese-Filipinos, of which I am one.
Oh, and for those who don't know - Hokkien is a Chinese dialect mainly spoken by residents of Fujian, which happens to be the origin of many Chinese-Filipinos, of which I am one.
