I Fear I Look Too Much Like My Mother

by Isabel Dorn

New London, WI. 2020.
I fear I look too much like my mother –
hair too black, bones too fragile
a face that chillingly resembles
the woman on TV with bloodstained temples
her face unrecognizable after the attack
a face half hidden behind a paper-thin mask
to assure them that we mean no harm
in case you don’t notice we are unarmed

I fear I look nothing like my mother –
eyes too round, nose too pointed
a face that only vaguely resembles
the women of Da Nang in their family temples
a city unrecognizable after the attacks
a horror half hidden behind history’s mask
to assure us that they meant no harm
(in case you didn’t notice, we were unarmed)

Isabel Dorn (she/her) is a graduate student who uses poetry to examine the complexities of intersectionality and coming of age in the 21st century. As a Vietnamese American woman, she sees writing as a powerful tool for social justice and strives to create more visibility for underrepresented groups with her work.