*It’s been a while since I wrote poetry. Hope you like my latest piece of work. Comments and suggestions are most welcome!

Who am I?

I am always 1989 but I was 5, I was 10, I was 25
I am always Taipei but I was Shanghai, I was Hong Kong, I was St. Louis
True, I am one of undistinguished many, yet many stories am I of only one

I remember honesty
was young Washington and his tree.
It was not I,
until I broke a toy and told my mother a lie.

Traveling started
on a flight to Taiwan alone.
I was four,
before I realized that I will never be home.

Science’s inspiration
was Alan Grant and some kids in a park.
I kept up,
soon I studied animals in a jungle looking the part.

Three Kingdoms,
taught me friendship and loyalty.
Its examples I followed,
since I ended up leaving everywhere I went.

I am a brother
to three younger and headstrong sisters.
I learned care,
during the two years when all we had was each other.

The world was black and white
coded in knowledge and morality.
I grew up,
after I made ambiguous choices like those before me.

Acceptance came
because everyone I knew was from some place different.
It was I,
as I chased after knowledge and understanding.

Who am I?
I am nothing but a unique collection of common short stories,
started in 1989, started in Taipei, Taiwan.

– William Fu Lien Hsu
October 26, 2015