Yellow

Yellow is a grain of wheat,

Yellow is the corn that’s sweet,

Yellow is the stars that shine

Yellow is the skin that’s mine

Some ask my ethnicity,

Yellow is the guy they see,

Good at maths, we spread disease

These stereotypes they follow me

They told me that my eyes were small

They asked me why I wasn’t tall

those awful names that they would call

I didn’t like myself, at all

So I did my best at fitting in,

In this game, you just can’t win

It’s black or white; we sink or swim

so I lost the yang, I kept the yin

Started drinking, I was too young

Too many times, lied to my mom

Swore at teachers, like I was dumb

Had no idea, who I’d become

My culture taught me to be kind

This part of me was left behind

To live an empire state of mind,

my eyes wide open, but I was blind

Then I realised kindness was there,

Invisible, just like the air

People showed me truth; they helped me dare

To paint myself without a care

Took me 30 years but now I see

I was locked inside, and I had the key

Accepted myself, and now I’m free

I am yellow, and this is me