November 6, 2024: Not Surprised, Just Heartbroken
a sort of found poem*
Where are you from?
You adopted from India? Wow. I could never do that.
What kind of Indian are you? Feather or dot?
You just have to educate people, have good conversations.
Today, class, we’re going to talk about India. Let’s watch a video of them eating monkey brains.
They’re so exotic, such beautiful skin.
Do you go to a tanning bed?
I don’t see color.
Why don’t you and your mom match?
I think every kid feels awkward. Middle school is hard.
Why didn’t your real parents want you?
They’re so lucky you adopted them / they became American / they got saved.
Why does Emma get to be Mary in the Christmas play? Um, well, she just looks the part.
I love our church. It’s like a rainbow when all the kids get up there.
We all know you got the interview / scholarship / job because of the quotas.
This country already had a Black president. He even went to Harvard.
I saw the sticker on your mother’s car. Effin’ insert-expletive-of-choice-lover.
She / He / They didn’t mean it like it sounded.
Wow, your English is so good.
Those implicit bias tools are flawed, you know.
But no, where are you REALLY from?
*by which I mean these things have all been said
to my children or me over the last two decades
Laura Dennis lives in central Appalachia, where she writes “Rural Reflections-The Reboot” on Substack and co-edits book reviews for MER. Her short fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in various publications and her first essay collection is forthcoming with the University Press of Kentucky. This is her first published poem.
The Marbled Sigh 