Who Am I? My Identity

Frida Kahlo, a Mexican American painter, rose to prominence as a female artist known for her surrealist paintings.  Her paintings often depicts an inner-conflict of two national identities —firstly rooted in her native country of Mexico and secondly, a separate westernized identity.  The Two Fridas, illustrates her portrayal of herself in these two forms:  Herself in a native traditional costume, sitting next to a second figure of herself in a westernized attire. 


I wrote a poem inspired by her conflict of identity, which people of two origins, bi-racial, or multi-racial often struggle with:




My Identity

Who am I?

Am I my nationality?

How about my identity?

My province says I am an American,

Though civilization shelves me as alien,

My veneer bares a woman,

Not white, but tinged bamboo-ochre,

Your prejudice castigates illiberal ordain,

My native tongue holds traces of Far Eastern brogue,

I am of two bedrocks:  part Asian/part American,

Strips of original berths amalgated to one,

Accredit my identity not as aberrant, but novel.