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Yellow

Updated: Feb 23

Dear Asian Youth,


It’s six letters with a double L

Ballet, allure, pollen, hollow - small


We’re on an outdoor stage

The sunflowers are in full bloom


My skin tone doesn’t match the slippers


Light places a sandpaper kiss against my lips

Yellow confetti’s strung around my hips like a choker:

A forgotten afternoon or purposefully left-behind heirloom


It’s the name of a Coldplay song


The first time I heard “Yellow” in Chinese, I played it on repeat

I wanted to dance, but - by then - I’d stopped tapping my feet

It’s not the stars that make the night sky complete


Yellow is the soft, incandescent flicker of light bulbs and neon signs

They light up Chinatown at 11PM while store owners sigh


Mud-stained streets

Beneath them: dark, dirty feet


Yellow is liminal space and not being seen

It’s knowing you’ll never be clean


Yellow is feeling small and not having space

Yellow is not feeling safe


Yellow is heartache and drowning in ocean waves

It’s shaking when you hear a gunshot and wondering what will be left in your wake


Asian Girl, will you leave behind memories? Or just dreamscapes and a splash of paint?