Face This Face-- a poem

I was invited to contribute to 'The Green Kaleidescope'. an always interesting Pakistani e-zine. I sent the poem I'd written for and read at the AWP conference in Atlanta, GA 2007.

Face This Face

The other day in Atlanta the waitress talks to me in Spanish.
I don’t speak your language, I say. The same happens with Mexicans.
I’ve been confused for Italian once. Also Greek.
In Baltimore a Native American woman
asks; “Are you Cherokee?” “No.”She’s supposed to read my palm; instead she
touches my face.
I touch this face at home, this face that seems to belong
to others too: Native-America, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Greece; my face in these
places, in these races, surprises me. It’s India I’m used to.
Year one: Are you from India? I smile. From the country next to it, Pakistan.
Year two: You Indian?I shake my head. Pakistan.
Year three: Indian? Delhi, right? No. Pakistan. Lahore.
Year after year after year until I’m at home with being mistaken for
India.
Finally, after fourteen years of living in the States, one Iranian
gentleman gets it right (or wrong?) You are Pakistani? he asks. How did you
guess? It’s in your face, he says adding, As salaam a laikum. I reply: wa lai kum as salaam

Naam-us-tay. The middle age baba behind the counter at Starbucks
says every time I get my tall coffee in a grande cup because my milk needs the
extra space. Naam-us-tay, he says bringing his palms together. Uhhh…I’m from
Pakistan. Well, sul-laam then, young lady, he says. Just once. Then he forgets
or does not remember. I’ve given up. Namaste to you too,
Uncle Starbucks.

Chances are it’s not important to Starbucks Uncle to remember there is a
difference. Chances are he forgets that these two countries are not one and the
same.
pakistan-naam-us-taay-india-sul-laam

I long to ask Starbucks Uncle: ‘You
from Canada?’Just to hear him say ‘Nope, America.’(he won’t need to specify
North or South—he won’t need to because he’s white and because he’s got an
American accent.)
So do I: sometimes. That’s what the Pakistanis say

read rest here