i want to share poems with you.

this is from my hearty day at VNA (poetic!), and we wrote poems. 

it is i

the immigrant

knowing that my ancestors were once prohibited from entering the shores along the amber waves of grain

and here i stand, pledging allegiance to the very country that banished my race

the tainted blood we carry, flowing through our very veins

i am asian. they do not believe i am like everyone else. 

before i die, i pass on the memories of this to my children

and hope that the judgements we all once carried are gone

before i die, i wish that the internment camps of my cousins no longer exist

and look toward the future without such discrimination

against me, the model minority

before i die, i awaken to dream of the days where we can truly be called americans

and walk alongside all people without the meaning of race.

this is an edited version:

before i die, i will pledge allegiance as an american

young, full of hope

what does the future have in store for me?

i love my country

so i pledge allegiance

i will hold my head up high, up to the great blue skies

i will place my right hand over my heart

and feel thebeating that soothes my soul

i wish to roam the lands, free to see and take in everything

i wish to be someone who is looked upon as 

brave, courageous, intelligent

i want to be heard

and i want to be seen

so here i stand, pledging allegiance to the very country that once banished my race

the tainted blood we carry, flowing through our veins

and so i pledge

i pledge to fear no more

to look up in the sun and not see a despondent end

but instead see a glowing future

before i die, i awaken to dream of the days where we are truly americans

and walk alongside all people without the meaning of race.