I came from strong guardians,

            Jaws dropping at the sight of freedom.

I came from the childhood of innocence,

            Sheltered in protection,

                        A house of PBS and religion,

                                    With locked doors, keys hidden in fear.

I came from peppers and onions,

            Stench attacking clothes,

                        Working for culture,

                                    Saying goodbye in our mouths,

                                                Leaving fingerprints of foreign.

I came from the school bus,

            Transportation to paradise,

                        Stopping for tanks of knowledge and groans,

                                    Where the laughs of the gullible echoed,

                                    Where polos and khakis jumped rope,

                                    Where no one was left behind.

I came from silence,

            Dictating my hand in class,

                        Infecting my voice.

I came from pure happiness,

            Trying to scrub the gutters,

                        So my mind won’t be left in them.

I am society’s happy bystander.