Nicole Kangos, October 2012

Parallel Shores

to the land of the beautiful,
the home of the brave:

A voice rises from these chains.
Strengthen your authority.
Define your lines,
as you let freedom flourish at the expense of your neighbor

the silence devastates her
and complicates the voyage
the sun flees from her cheeks
as twilight peaks

she breathes in a breath of uncertainty
and contemplates a home of fallacy
fevered with confusion,
society is marked by illusion

tousled between generations of division
implants of a national vision;
silver spoons in mouth and hand
the embodiment of the patriarchal land

can you define the beauty in ignorance?
and swallow personal responsibility
strip rights with every new policy
answer to “justice is a game”

Yet, you provide her with the ability to flee
to tread water to the faraway seas
she packs up white supremacy,
and unloads her secularity.

she lands as a living, breathing, form of hypocrisy

she arrives by night
wavering between modes of societies
wanders the streets without fright
and floats in the clouds auspiciously 

her spirit and soul,
dances in the company of ghosts.
as she embraces the dawn of the western horizon
and pays homage with a morning toast

she learns of oriental philosophies
and forgets duality
in a delicate balance of identities,
syncretism breeds equality

she channels the waves of civility to the island’s shores
the winds paralyze her as ‘that foreigner’
she pulls back the conspiracies
and hides in the face of academic responsibilities

her freedom is implored by context
in a land bought and sold, at best
and blooming with adversity
a lotus bred from the dust

her discontent travels from her heart to feet
rain floods over these streets,
she’s caught in a storm of complacency
a reminder of our congruency

the magnificence of the sky,
the extensions of orchids loom
the harmony of nature’s hum
the anticipation of a full moon

Afflicts us with no sensation,
a lantern illuminates an ugly light of these nations
learn to keep face, hold your tongue
because what’s left unsaid,
is left undone.

with love,

an old soul from parallel shores.I’m from the United States. I grew up in a small town near the Jersey Shore. Currently, I am enrolled in Global of Long Island University, a four-year study abroad school that has thus far brought me to Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Taiwan. I am a junior working on a degree in Global Studies. The rest of my academic year will take me through Thailand, India, and Turkey with a focus on Comparative Religion and Culture.