I learned at age 8 the colors of the rainbow
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
I stared at each picture, curious of the colors
Mrs. Ferguson said that together, we make a beautiful rainbow
And I memorized it.

I learned at age 13 grade that I was gay
Each boy slow danced with their girl
I stood in the corner watching
Isolated, ashamed, in the dark
And I memorized it.

I learned at age 16 that my parents didn’t accept me
Battered and bruised
I could feel the spit of Confucius on my wounds
I could feel the yin and yang twisting my spirit
I could feel the burns from the flames from my ancestral shrine
And I memorized it.

I learned at age 20 how the other men felt
Blogs and wikihows lied to me as they told me to find solace in the gay bars
Their eyes followed me like I was a hanging chicken at a street booth
Disgusted
Drunk men announcing their Asian fetish to me
As if I were a dish to prove their exotic tongues
The rice queens sitting proudly on their thrones
As we, the subjects, are shackled and exposed
To their adventurous acceptance
And I memorized it.

I learned at age 23 the colors of the rainbow
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
As I stared at the Pride Flag, I remembered
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
I stared
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
They stared
Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
Yellow
And I memorized it.