brown girl,
you are too indian for your classmates
they laugh when you pull out your container of curry and rice
wrinkle their noses at the smell of turmeric-coriander-cumin-garam masala
wait a few years, when your culture becomes their trend
when henna no longer “looks like a disease” but is sold at stands at theme parks
when tattoos are written in sanskrit and bindis are worn to coachella
when their american tongues trip over the syllables in “paneer tikka masala”
brown girl,
you are too white for your family
they shake their heads when you wear ripped jeans and cropped shirts
your grandparents speak broken english in public and you’re embarrassed of it
wait a few years, when you’re older and understand
when you realize they raised you the only way they know how
when you remember your grandparents learned english to talk to you
when you know that they are terrified of you losing your culture
brown girl,
stop hiding away from the color of your skin
why do you so desperately wish to fit in with those who do not want you?
(because fitting in is all we can hope for, because different is punished everywhere)
wait until you learn to love yourself
when you learn that you were simply the result of a collision of cultures
when your playlists transition from conan gray to arijit singh and back
when you realize that it’s really not all about fitting in
brown girl,
everything about you is so beautiful
it pains me that it took so long for you to see it
but you are stronger for it in the end.
the len(z) 