Poetry Friday: The Child of a Stranger

Enjoy the poem that won first prize this year in my annual poetry contest for teens between cultures.

the child of a stranger by Wendy China/USA, age 17

at birth I was offered up to this country, some
innocent and
crawling appeasement
subject to the laws and
dreams of its
people.

but my body holds the lines of your
country and my
country
unevenly. I cannot melt the borders
into one. I am no melting
pot. these borders are edged with
barbed wire.

I cannot fuse these patches of
redwhiteandblue with
yellowstarsandre