From Centimeters to Pounds

Flying over the big blue ocean—a bundle of ounces and inches—
Borne on clouds and leather-clad seats
I became centimeters and grams

The first son of a first son—adored
By aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, grandfather and
Grandmother—my first love

Open markets, shouting vendors
This tiny concrete island, an endless stretch
Of small shops and multiple floors

Riding on scooters—wind in my face
Toys and toys and toys and toys
Firecrackers and red all around

Then—more centimeters, now kilograms
Again—turbulence and pressure in my ears
I became feet and pounds

41 days—and then
My world crashed around me—
They left

Without me
Where—
did my family go?

Now only a man—called Father
A woman—called Mother
A person shorter than me—Sister

Big—and flat
Cars, and more cars
Everything so far apart

Armed with only A through L, “yes” and “no”
my slanted eyes, yellowish-tan skin, button nose
I began school

China Panda—my world
my occupation: waiter, cook, cashier, and bus boy
when my feet still dangled off the ground

And then—love—from Father
discipline—from Mother
friendship—from Sister

a stranger in a strange land
with family in unfamiliar places
this place—became—

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