The Pacific Passage

i was made in americaland of the free, home of the bravebut my skin ain’t americayellow and brown, the invisible slaves

my history is gonea white man conceals itour ships are forgottenamerica, explain this

lost in an ocean of confusion

the pacific passage, forgotten at seawe don’t talk about the yellow, the browncovered by america’s supremacy

you promised us, americaa promise of a new lifeyou lied to us, america

uncle sam turned up with a knife

‘yellow peril’ became my name‘docile women’ now my identityforever silenced by my sexmy skin is my invisibility

america, i’m still waitingnot black, not whitei’m stuck in the middlefighting the air for a right to life

i will live here and die here, americaassimilation forever my curseever erasing my differencesamerican-izing my hearse