If Looks Could Kill

If looks could kill

I would have died ten thousand deaths

In twenty thousand Chinese eyes

Hard black looks

Beneath epicanthic folds

Wordless looks

Cut into the hard lines

Of cold brown faces

I wear a death mask

A gray beard beneath furled brows

Sallow cheeks beneath weary, wrinkled eyes

I venture not one minute from my small haven

And I know I am not welcome

Where

I wish I could escape my little prison

But I must wait, wait, and wait

And I ask myself, what have I done wrong?

Of what crime am I guilty

To deserve this harsh punishment?

I tell myself, it is nothing but the sin

Of being some one different

In a forbidden and foreign land

Where everyone has no choice

But to be the same