Pinay Speaks.

From Pasig to Manila, into the melting pot of America,

She walked and graced her presence into the world.

Age seventeen, tender and young,

She wed and bore ten precious children,

Only to suffer and grieve from losing three of her eldest gifts.

Fast forward to the 70’s…

Her world turned upside down, inside out

For the first time since the American couple wanted her as their own for money,

The cold harsh reality of Virginia’s winds finally hit her elderly body

And just the coldest winter called for it,

She put on a coat,

Made of courage, strength, and bravery

And with her pious Catholic faith and devotion,

She continues to fight for her family,

Coat off, because today is her reality.

She is the foundation of our family.

Lola.

From Manila, to Bangkok, to Japan

A housewife to an OFW…an overseas Filipina worker

Cooking her way for money into a foreign land

Only to assist those who ones oppressed her,

The white elderly-

For money into the melting pot of America,

Where our presence causes bloods to boil

Like the sinigang na baboy she slaves so hard for

Because she, like her feminine “mother”, being a women, is shackled to the grounds of the kitchen

Only to be sold to the bedrooms of pitiful, paternalistic, pussy-hungry swines

As a mistress to masculine America.

However…resilience, intelligence, and beauty-

That is she.

Like my home, my mother country,

She is the rick that keeps me steady.

Nanay.

St. Paul College to Chula Vista High to UCSD.

I am not a sexual commodity to be sold for currency

That wont even go to me to take care of my family!

I am open to my sexuality

But pardon me if you believe that you can seduce me & sex me for money…

I am not a gold digging mail order bride for a white man nor his wealth

So don’t expect my beauty to rot and be chunky

Like a possible “husband” I would supposedly marry for his money

Shit, how dare YOU have the audacity?!

So don’t expect me to give you head

Because you got a hundred dollar bill waiting on your bed

Or speak a language with such an accent- or so you said.

Cuz unlike Lil Wayne’s lyrics,

I do have a good head game

Because my brain aint the same--- as yours.

I am lifted, my mental capacity is shifted

Because I come from a generation of women who are gifted.

My knowledge is my power,

Bright enough to empower myself

From having to surrender to your sexual candor

I am the light that shines brightly

To live the life of my family’s legacy

Pinay ako.