If The World Were White

by The Cowl Editor on January 18, 2018


Poetry


black and white stick figures standing beside each other
Photo courtesy of juniaproject.com

by Marelle Hipolito ’21

 

If the world were white, you would have no jokes.

You would just talk about the weather, who won last night

The guy or the girl, the couple in a fight

That is, if the world were white.

 

If the world were white, you would have no jokes

You would ask what I want to eat, what movie I’d want to see tonight

What dream car I want to buy

That is, if the world were white.

 

But, the world is not white. I am not white.

And we are not alright.

When I talk about the weather you ask how hot it was in my sweatshop

When I ask what happened last night, you ask if I saw the Border Patrol lights

Because the world is not white.

 

When I say I want to eat, you say you don’t like dog meat

When I want to watch a movie, you ask if my eyes are open, if I can actually see

When I describe my dream car, you say I’m an Asian girl, that I won’t even know how to drive

Because the world is not white.

 

I admit it, I do

Sometimes it’s innocent and funny, and I’ll laugh too

But a million pokes of a finger will turn into one stab of a knife

You laugh for a minute, I live with that stereotype my whole life

Because the world is not white.