Featured Image: Natalia Senanayake

i’m like a warm coffee pot blend

the paleness of milk, mixed with strength and aroma

a blend of the two, learning balance and harmony.

i stem from the cherry blossoms and willows

rooted with love in the backyard oasis

of my mother’s green thumb.

and the new england drive horseshoe

that scraped my knee on sunday morning

a mickey mouse bandage gifted by my sister.

i am an extension of my cats’ nine lives —

whose third eyes rub off on me

and allow me to fully see.

the stories my bookshelf holds.

with colors of my life always changing

like light hitting a reflection in the mirror.

it’s the incense of my achchi’s home;

red stained floors sticking to slippers

mosquito nets sing me to sleep.

her purple sari and charcoal rosary,

adorned and dripping in golden chains.

sacred jewelry emerged beneath the island.

brings me back to who I am —

where I’m from.