What Is Home?

a poem for the 2018 Diversity Studies Faculty Exhibition

1.
the smell of fried rice for breakfast
my parents at the kitchen table
drinking coffee, laughing
and talking smack

2.
your warm hand in mine
the kids asleep next to me
the t.v. flickering
and a cat barfs
on the dining room floor

3.
black and brown, all around —
where my voice is heard
where my work matters
where i don’t have to explain
where there’s solidarity in struggle
and solace in support
where difference is valued
where community and social justice
aren’t just buzzwords
where ideas come thick and fast
where folks have your back
where students get the Word
where ancestors celebrate our communion