Identity Poem

As a child

Like a house-cat

Wide-eyed, I watched the world from my window

With the pretense to pounce

But blocked by a translucent barrier,

Too conscious of what I was not

See, I overthink, I think

Trying to sleep, I need to roll up a ball of thoughts from one end

While my unclipped claws enclasp and entangle the other 

The pounce came at 24

It was a matter of necessity 

A hunger for unlived moments

Full of faces, fish, music, traffic,

A language that began to make sense,

And a thick fog that hung between buildings

Making people cover their houses

With bright pink and yellow paint

Lima, me encanta

Querer es poder 

Y solo se vive una vez (#yolo)

My faint tabby patterns darkened to tiger stripes

As my insecurities chipped off like cheap nail polish along the Malecón 

“Soy la mitad Peruana,” I would tell people

Wishing it were true

And when I said something true:

“Soy Judía,” their faces looked as if I had taken a wand out

And made a loaf of lehem min ha'aretz appear on top of my head.

For me, there’s no better feeling 

Than exploring an unknown place

Or dancing in the wind

But also, coming home

To make sure no one and nothing else has changed