Daughter Of The Warrior Land

• Jashandeep Suran, Grade 12, Nossal High School - Monash University Campus
• Poetry
• 2022

Excellence Award in the 'Summertime Fun ONLINE' competition

there is something moon iridescent and fiery-flavoured of me
when i speak the mother tongue of the cosmos the stars dream in concordance
so when people ask me
“what are you? your melanin is beautiful and exotic,
i wonder of your flavour, you know you got that spice in you.”
i tell them
“i’m punjabi.”
because the motherland i belong to is a cluster of divine empires
the remnants of galaxies’ embers
but how dare they mesmerise at the sight of my skin
when it has seen horrors, acid rain and soulless eyes
when my people have covered my mouth from yelling, when
the same men who tell me violence doesn’t exist, ask me to carry pepper spray?
do not tell me what i taste like
if you are unaware that my flavour is rebellion, red-pilled
forever in mutiny.