My successful cousins' vessels have been gentrified

though they’ve always had blue eyes 

so maybe that’s what was bound to happen.

Their tawny skin tone could always be explained

by a well-placed tan or an out of the blue vacation.

The only thing that gives them away is their last names 

and their parents hid them behind their firsts. 

The language that should be as familiar to them as
worn down shoes
 is muddled,
diluted by misplaced vowels and consonants.
And I’m no hypocrite,
my tongue has trouble forming 
similar words
yet they’ve never sounded wrong in my mouth.