by The Cowl Editor on January 18, 2018
Poetry
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.