DNA©

Copyright 2014

By Felina Silver Robinson

Born into this world

Knowing nothing

Seeing what I can

Making noise any way I can

As I grow I realize that I’m different from others

My mom and dad are too

My mom shares the same color

But her hair is different

It makes me wonder

My dad is my step dad

He’s different in color

From his hair to his toes

My Mom]s hair is long and its straight

She dawns pretty high check bones

So when she laughs the smile covers up her whole face

She tells me she’s Blackfoot, Mohawk and Cherokee

She told me stories of her long hair that was cut

When she first came to Boston

she cut her long hair

Just to fit in or all eyes would be upon her

Each passing day I long to hear more about her

But all she would was that her family name was Silver

I think of coins, I think of cups, I think of silver on a platter,

But my moms name? It seems almost made up

And from what I learned from studying was

That those in power changed all the original Native names and

made them sound like American names

So I ask myself, is my mother truly Indian

since they took her name

It made me mad that she had no power to stop them

But it was the price to be paid for living among them

It’s ok because she is still who she was

just with a shorter last name

As for me, I’m left wondering who I really am

The color of your skin doesn’t tell you who you are

We are made up of different things on the inside

But it’s all the same on the outside

except for color and hair texture

No one gives me answers its like a big secret

I wonder should I stop looking

I know that I can’t, I won’t

I’ll never give up

Now I find myself reading, searching,

Watching, listening, learning all I can

A little more each day

And maybe some day I’ll be satisfied

With what I learn

It may be time to look into my DNA

I’m told the answer may lie within

I’m patient but just hoping to

know just who I am

DNA won’t you help me right away