My Heritage is Like the Sea

by Nattida N.

My mother and father come from different lands

My mother is from Thailand

My father’s heritage is Ireland

These are the lands they still might be

They’re both from different lands of the world

Yet we all live in the land of America

And I wonder how can that be?

My father’s ancestors left Ireland because of the potato famine

So you could say they left because they were hungry

My mother and I didn’t leave Thailand because we were hungry

At least not for food

But maybe we were hungry, hungry for the new land of America

My father’s ancestors crossed on the ocean

My mother and I came over the ocean

It’s like the sea was a highway for her and me

My father’s was the Atlantic

My mother’s the Pacific

I think of this when I hear “from sea to shining sea”

So was this line destined for me?

And does not these oceans meet somewhere on the Earth?

I love my new country America

I am a proud citizen of the country I love

So it seems to me, I am where the Pacific and the Atlantic meet

And I wonder when they meet are they as happy as me?

Seems to me heritage is much like the sea 

One is not better than the other; they just blend together and form many seas