Cover art by @shotbyalexandra
I.
I come from those that many consider enemies / WWII. Israel v.s. Germany / Exotic and weak and overruled / Modernized and ignorant family cedars / Filled with middle eastern Yemenites / Soup and honey is served / If it wasn’t for my grandma I wouldn’t be able to envision the table / I am the granddaughter, bat mitzvahed but not religious / Still reliant on God
II.
My athletic cousins from New Jersey / My younger self from the eyes of my classmates / Middle schoolers / Mostly atheists / I was the jappy girl / I went to camp and had friends that weren’t raised in the city / The reason that I was seen as stupid / But seen as tough from the other side / My ¼ of christianity, of difference, was unknown to them / Six great aunts and uncles who died in the holacaust / I still choose the way I identify religiously based on who I am with in the moment / I am not stuck with public opinions / I can adjust to please all / Which is what pleases me the least
III.
The objectified world that makes sense of things / Where is your family from? / Are you religious? / How much money do your parents make? / And all the other data that is used to create one’s opinion / I live to subjugate the things that control my interactions because of where I am coming from / My life is proof enough that all that was fought for in the past was worth it / But now I can live without proving it to anyone else
IV.
I come from death and trauma but I fear that those ahead of me won’t / I will not be a struggling, first generation ancestor in the same way my grandparents are / I am thankful/ But is this selfish / Is it okay to not plan for my grandchildren? / Will they have a different life because of me? / This should not have to matter / I always need to fit somewhere on the scales and spectrums of identity / I am only basing my position off of what I am told / Shouldn't I know most about who I am? / Frustration / Getting asked about my heritage when I don’t feel that it has anything to do with me
