The World We Live In

Catherine

Everyone grows up with their biological parents,

Some of us don't and it changes your whole life.

I have candid memories finding out I was adopted,

I realized that I didn't look like my parents at all.

My friends look like their parents but I don't,

Open school nights turned into my teachers knowing the deal.

They put the pieces together but somehow I didn't,

And here I am, 13 years old starting to understand the world.

My parents kept me protected from an inhumane society,

The thought of me being adopted never crossed my mind.

My best friend randomly asked me why I don't look like my parents,

And I couldn't really answer his question.

Then the thoughts start wandering in your mind,

After open school night my classmates were puzzled.

Walking home some days from school, my mom would be home,

And my friends would wonder how I'm related to this lady.

It's a hard ordeal trying to figure out how to ask my parents,

I know I'm adopted and where are my biological parents.

So the plot thickens and I'm to myself a lot more these days,

Here I am writing my story about my confusing life.

I love my current parents dearly and appreciate them,

But I somehow feel I need to know my past to move toward the future.

I'm lost in this cloud as my body is floating,

I feel I can fly but the reality is I've drifted into my own world.

I lose sight of where I am, as I'm in deep thought,

Wondering why me, why don't my birth parents love me?

One night I walked past my parents room and they were talking,

I heard them discussing me and what was wrong.

They couldn't figure out what was going on with me,

I've become withdrawn and want to be alone a lot.

 Eventually they came in my room and asked me what's going on,

I finally told them I know that I'm adopted and I needed to talk.

They knew eventually I'd figure it out and I said I'm being made fun of,

My mom is one race, my dad another and me another race.

I told them I always wondered why people snickered at us while we were out,

I figured people couldn't accept an interracial relationship.

So here we are, still dealing with racism and prejudices in this world,

We must all stick to our own kind, oh how I've heard that numerous times.

I'm just a teenager and I see the hidden messages amongst people,

Granted I'm in a school with mixed races all around me.

It seems to me we can go to school together and be friends,

But we can't date other, oh that's a big no-no in their eyes.

People in the neighborhood say hello to us and are nice,

But I wonder what they say behind their closed doors in their homes.