I am an MK!

This is a poem that I have had for years and it has always helped me "figure out" who I am when I am having one of those moments.

I am the composite of many nations, cultures, and people.
My home is nowhere, and it is everywhere.

I am trapped by the boundaries of separate cultures,
And at the same time it is by this I am freed.

I can feel at home in a place where no one looks like me,
And feel estranged in a place where everyone does.

I am labeled as "different", "exotic", "strange".
Yes; I am different.

Still; I am the same.
I am a part of two entirely different Worlds.
Loving both, belonging to neither.

The place where I was born could never be my "home-country",
And the place where I am could never fully own me.

I am one, and I am the other,
Too opposite to be equal, too similar to be opposing,
There will always be another owner of My Heart.

Divided, so it seems -- separated by the boundary of my distinct Worlds.

And when I am there, part of me will not be, and when I am here,
My Heart will be elsewhere.

I am a chameleon.

I have adapted, molded, into every situation that Life has thrown my way
World traveler, sophisticated, uncivilized.

Running barefoot, balancing on heels.
White or black beneath my skin.

Who am I?
I am neither and I am both.
I am a part of a whole, divided.
Could there but be a way to possess one World?

****

Ashley Hope Baker