New World? Still Me

©Mariano

Asia, Africa, North America,

South America, Europe, Antarctica, Australia,

Papua New Guinea, and a Filipina.

What can a Filipina do among the glitters of continents known?

In the middle of the crowd, alone, on my own?

How can I compare to the accents of delicate women of the north?

Through their skins of snow and their clothes of warmth?

I am just a color of soil with the temperament of a bull

Where all words have weight as it flows like waves - push and pull

Yet as the sea calls out to me with the ancestors' voices rhyming

From the sea to our lands, then barren with a silver lining

From soil, they rooted plants, houses, barangays, civilization

Rooted from love, perseverance, hospitality, and dedication.

The values pass until it reaches me

They remind me I don't need to change for me to be seen

The world may change, yet stay true

To your country and to you.

The world around us may want us to change who we are, but reminding ourselves of where we came from and our identity that distinguishes us from these cultures makes us unique from them.