Is it threatening?
seeing a tall turbaned man with sunburned skin
with the brown in his eyes encapsulating soil foreign to you
who carries home on his spine
who speaks his language of rolled vowels
not yours of silent h’s

I must ask
since when did immigrant become a ***** word?
since when did my fathers accent become a ***** stain
on your white linen table cloth
to be washed and left to hang.

there is a battlefield
clashing
within our parents

on opposite sides
two separate lands

as they are stuck
in the no mans land
between

-war

oh what I wouldn’t give
instead of capturing you in a picture
my eyes yearn to relive

To frame you
between my fingers
instead