At the Big-box store I shopped for wicker chairs To lounge in, in my summer garden, Red, brown and grey chairs Sat stacked neatly in the aisle. Choosing two brown ones, Happy to have something, The colour of my native land- My choice was quick. At least now When people asked “Where are you from?” I could claim ownership of my origins, With my affinity to the brown chairs, I would have an answer For the boy in my Spanish class Who asked “Are you really a Brownie?’’ As he looked me up and down. Brown is made by mixing red and yellow Perhaps they forgot to add in the red When they made me Watering the yellow with white Leaving me somewhere In-between, A citizen of a different country To which I half belong.
KAVITA EZEKIEL MENDONCA has been a teacher of English, French and Spanish for over four decades in colleges in India, and private schools overseas. She is a widely published poet, with poems featured in various journals and anthologies, including the Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English, The Journal of Indian Poetry in English by Sahitya Akademi, SETU magazine, Harbinger Asylum and Verse-Virtual. Her debut collection ‘Family Sunday and other Poems’ was published in 1989. Her chapbook Light of the Sabbath was recently published in September 2021. Kavita is the daughter of the late poet Nissim Ezekiel. https://kavitaezekielpoetry.com/
The Pine Cone Review 