Life

1920s: my grandparents born and raised in the Philippines,

A country of beauty, of family, of hard work, and a country of dreams,

But see, it was a grind, nothing given to you, you had to work hard to make it,

Poverty was their reality, opportunities were lacking, you had pursue it and you had to take it,

But their lives were thrown into chaos when the Japanese attacked,

There was no mercy for the fam, playing dead so soldiers wouldn't take them prisoner

or kill them, the whole country ransacked,

Lola grew up and her daddy was strict,

Little did she know he was building her a good foundation brick by brick,

My Lola met my Lolo after the Korean War, she said it was love at first sight,

They had that real stuff, that real love, they were inseparable, they were tight,

She grew into a woman, a teacher, a worker, and a wife,

And soon she had seven babies, seven angels, born into her life,

War is terrible, it's a monster, it's disease, that's makes families, friends,

brothers, mothers, sisters, and fathers cry,

My Lola and Lolo knew that for a fact, so they looked for a beacon of hope

to start their new lives,

She wanted better for her kids, so in the 70s, they got it to the US,

Beacon Hill, Seattle, Washington is where they would lay the nest,

On the other side of it was my grandma and my papa, also came up from humble beginnings,

Grew up on the farms, became teachers and scholars, on some humble upbringings,

My grandma had three, my uncles and my pops,

Then my grandma, in the 60s, moved to Bellingham, Washington, tryna’ make it to the top,

She worked hard for her boys so eventually she could bring them over,

Sad thing was my pops didn't even remember his momma and who she was,

had to start the relationship all over,

And grandma and papa had to learn quick to assimilate to white culture,

Or else, in reality, they would be picked apart by the vultures,

Back to my momma's side, living on Beacon wasn't that easy,

Having to learn a new language was foreign, and so was going to a new school

in Cleveland High, but my momma had a plan so to her it was breezy,

She was a student and gave herself to the process of hard work and the grind,

And soon enough momma was thriving, she was developing and cultivating her mind,

Mom’s first job was at McDonalds, she'd work during the day and did school work at night,

Tryna’ get those straight A’s, do the fam proud, make a name for herself,

the future was looking bright,

She got into UW, paying for her own school, my mom my real inspiration,

She worked hard at her craft, and saw the value in getting a good education,

Then she went into medical school, to become a nurse, chase her passion and the money,

My momma forged her own future, her own destiny, now all she had to do was settle down

and find herself a honey,

Before we get to that we gotta get back to my pops, he had it hard in Bellingham,

See my pops got treated with racism, prejudice, and disrespect,

he was surrounded by wolves and he was the lamb,

They called him chink, said his food smelt like crap, and that he didn't belong,

My dad grew tough skin, pushed the negativity away, that boy became strong,

But pops also had a lot of insecurities too, grandma and papa weren't always there,

The lack of parents, protection, sometimes made him feel like he was bare,

He made it out of Bellingham and went to Washington State University,

There he had more Filipino and minority brethren, those were better times, no more adversity,

So, my dad finished college and eventually he looked to settle,

He set eyes on my momma, he ran the race, and her heart was his medal,

On to my life and even though I'm young I'm full of all kinds of experiences,

Everything leading up to your boy’s life was blessed by God's frequent appearances,

I'm blessed: I couldn't ask for any better,

Because through my grandparents, my parents, through my family, I know what the struggle is, the meaning behind every letter,

Like I said growing up they didn't have much, just had each other,

And that's why I'm so family-oriented, I love my momma, my sister,

I treat my cousins like my brothers,

Friends ain't always gonna be there but family is always present, always standing tall,

And they always gonna have your back, they'll be there to catch you when you fall,

One thing growing up I do regret is not learning the language, Tagalog, Ilocano,

I hear my relatives speak but I can't understand,

And that's what's sad because one day when I got kids I can't teach them,

my culture lost in the motherland,

But don't get it twisted I rep the Philippines, it's tattooed on my heart,

I know my culture is something unique, something special, I knew that from the start,

Switching it up, growing up in Seattle I fell in love with the city, West Seattle, Chinatown, Beacon Hill, Downtown, Rainer Beach, the hometown raised me,

I'm thankful for seeing different parts of the city, the people, the food, the culture,

every aspect built character, Sea Town made me,

In West Seattle I live in an all-white neighborhood, no crimes, no crooks getting locked up and doing some time,

But when I go to Rainer Beach where my auntie resides It's a whole different story, for the people living there, it's a different set of mind,

My aunties' house was in a drive-by shooting, gang members looking for my cousin,

his sister inside at the time barely escaped the shots,

And when my cuzzo tried getting out of that gang life, that hardship, that negativity,

he almost got dropped,

Followed home by some rivals looking for revenge, trapped on all sides they took aim

and he was hit,

By God's grace it wasn't fatal just went through his arm, my cuzzo could've been killed,

if they emptied the whole clip,

My cousin a survivor, had his first baby a month ago, I couldn't be happier for him,

Because he saw a better future for himself, he escaped the trap when things looked real dim,

Something else I learned from loved ones is that u got to fight for your dreams,

Hard work beats talent, when talent refuses to work hard, work ethic makes your efforts gleam,

My parents expect me to be successful and I do too,

Because comparing my situation to theirs, working hard seems a lot easier to do,

That's why I'm at Prep, I wanted a challenge, I wanted to test myself,

There's a competitive nature in it all, one day I want to be at the top of the shelf,

So, appreciate the joy but also the hardships, the ups and the downs,

Those are the things that helped me grow, they built me up from the ground.

#Spring2018Edition #Classof19 #Poems #WritingArchive