Literary Interlude: Variation on a Theme

Assimilation

Otherness came to me on Mami’s knee,
actually, it must have been the babysitter’s,
‘cause Mom was always working in the
perpetual immigrant nightmare- took it in with
the formula- no La Leche in league, daycare or ballet-
as soon as I could be bullied into fear, they left me,
left me all alone, just me and Quick Draw McGraw,
and aluminum tray tables garnished with
cool little boxes of Frosted Flakes.

Wordless I first learned otherness-
strange words running in rivulets over
the big shiny raincoat of my mother tongue-
a lesson relearned with whiptail words,
wielded with childspite, because...I was...smart.
Oh, the shame of being foreign and smart,
of being less than and not equal to those with
bouncy blond curls.

But having lived with otherness all my life,
I think I’ve learned the truth. Audreys,
Eileens, Marys, they, too, were afraid of
being alone...only difference

...I learned all about the importance of words.