Reincarnation

Telling truthful lies

Photo by drphuc/Image designed by author

Happy AAPI Month! I want to take the time to show some love, support and just my general love for the AAPI communities. Recently, President Joe Biden included Native Hawaiians in the Asian American Pacific Islander acronym. This month I’ll write think pieces on the literature, art, religion and other content related to this special group of people who have contributed so much to the world.

Today, I’m going to say,
I’m Japanese.
All that flows in my blood are lotus
flowers and diabetes. Africa is

there —

But my soul is on a ladder
climbing to feel the cheek of god
so they/he/she can touch
my 1300 year old essence —

Lotus seeds that have fallen to the mud
browned by dirt and water
are not considered beautiful
yet the sun burns with the heat of a thousand
wisdoms from the land of the gods
and I am no geisha, but I move with
the rhythm of haiku: ephemeral, yet complete.

Of course, I lie and say I am Japanese —
not out of hatred for my mud brown
millennial…