Cling, Cling, Bam, Bam,
I squeeze my body into the rectangular car
Cling, Cling, Bam, Bam,
I can’t even breathe anymore
I have no where to escape.
Cling, Cling, Bam, Bam,
Cling, Cling, Bam, Bam,
I roll over my eyes
to the right
to the left
to the top
to the bottom
And still
I have no where to runaway.
…………….
No one speaks
No one moves
Not even the rectangular car that
has been absorbing itself into the labyrinth
the endless labyrinth
And I am thinking to myself
surrounded by complete strangers
smelling a white boy’s greasy blond hair that stuck in front of my face
feeling a Hispanic woman staring at me frowning
hearing a Black boy’s loud music screaming out of his I-pod
looking at an Asian woman’s New York Times
across the shoulder of an European guy who has been napping and snoring
reading the back page of the paper as she’s reading the front page, what is going on in this world
What am I doing here?
Abandoning all the sweet comforts in my home
studying other’s language
forgetting my language
appreciating other’s culture
ignoring my culture
And still
Feeling insecure, inferior and alone
and struggling, struggling and struggling.
What am I doing here?
Why am I here?
Why does my heart ache?
Cling, Cling, Bam, Bam,
Cling, Cling, Bam, Bam,
The rectangular car starts to march into the labyrinth again
And I,
I, too, march into the labyrinth
disguising myself as if I am one of them
pretending nothing happened in my mind
and again, hoping that I will become successful
here
one day
and starting my day again
As if I am one of them.