2025/Kaira-

I am from names mispronounced in classrooms

From bento boxes beside cafeteria trays

From catching butterflies in the tall grass of the countryside

From wishing my father’s ship would break, so he would stay

I am from purple

A mixture of two worlds that stained my spirit

Red from heritage, blue from duty

The color of the Month of the Military Child

Of blooming resilience

I am from borrowed walls, beige carpets, and hard stairs

From “don’t hang that there” and “you’ll only be here for a year”

I am from birthday candles lit without him

Because the real gift was his return

And some nights I would be too afraid to sleep

Afraid he wouldn’t come back, lost somewhere in the sea

In a way I am lost at sea too

Even if I never left the shore

I once hated goodbyes, always leaving a wound

Now it is a proof, that nothing is truly immune

I am from paper cranes and salutes

From goodbye hugs at sunrise

And homecomings at dusk.

I am from nowhere and everywhere

But mostly, I am from them