Hapa: Torn between Two Identities
I was recently reminded of the difficulties of growing up biracial so here’s one of my poems addressing this identity issue.
Hapa
I don’t quite fit in,
not 100% Asian,
nor 100% “American”.
Call me, “Hapa”,
Hawaiian for mixed,
half-breed,
bi-racial,
rejected, not accepted,
unwanted,
no tribe to call my own,
all I want really is to belong,
a place, I can call home.
I live in the land in-between,
Like the Hebrews during the Exodus,
wandering in the desert,
looking for comfort and rest,
searching for my identity,
only to have others say quizzically,
“You don’t like me?!”;
Not White enough to fit in with the mainstream,
nor Asian enough to be a minority,
I’m constantly teased,
not comfortable being just me,
I’m confounded,
conflicted,
cursed,
caught in a cultural cross-fire,
who will leave me alone?
Better yet, who will accept me as their own?
More poems can be found in “Slanted Eyes: The Asian-American Poetic Experience”
https://www.amazon.com/Slanted-Eyes-Asian-American-Poetic-Experience/dp/1523221607
