A Year Ago

It all happened a year ago

When I arrived here and came to know

That not all was as the TV had shown;

By God, it was the land of the unknown!

An endless summer marked the days

In the blessed land where I was raised.

But here, autumn leaves and winter snow

Marks the time that passes ever slow.

Of cultures and traditions,

Or dreams and ambitions;

A clash between the East and West?

To join the two shall be my quest.

I used to be a joke in my friends’ eyes,

For they said I was a white in disguise.

“White on the inside, yellow on the outside!

Look, a banana!” they laughed and cried.

Yet, here I am in the Land of the Free

Eating rice and drinking tea.

“Kanasai!” remains my favorite curse,

And thus it shall be till the day of my hearse.