We are color-blinded by race,
a society of half truths
where people skim by
indifferent
to the divides,
categorizing them in groups
averaged out on paper.
We follow the order
as the instructions say
and check the box
that applies to us.
There are boxes for color
and labels of culture
but no American box
for the multi-racial.
No box for my blood,
a mix of races and cultures.
No box for my heart’s first choice
but still check a box,
the label you were marked by
at birth.
I check white but sometimes do not.
Poem: RIVER MARIA URKE has the heart of a poet and the eyes of an artist. She lives in Stillwater with her teenage daughter, Willow. River’s poetic writings and artistic touches reflect her Ojibwe and Celtic heritages along with her ponderings of being a forty-something American mother. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks and a nonfiction work. She has been published a handful of times in online publications and is a contributor to two anthologies. River won the 2013 Made Here poetry contest in Minneapolis and is currently working on her first full-length poetry book, Spirit Songs. River is a member of the Mulberry Street Poets in Stillwater and the former TGIFrybread poetry group in Minneapolis.
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