Tangled Roots, Echoing Streets, Dreaming of an American Dream

hear their voices— 

cries of freedom 

echo beneath my window— 

a thousand marching feet, 

a generation of restless wanderers, 

tangled roots, echoing streets, 

dreaming of an American Dream 

I am a mongrel, 

labeled by accident— 

a purebred in a pound, 

in a world woven from yarn and string 

I’m a tapestry of threads, 

from my Chinese immigrant past 

and American asphalt: 

chalk on the streets, apple pie, 

neighborhood basketball 

midwest princess with a bowl cut, 

goldfish in a glass bowl, 

drifting with sesame seeds, 

a midwestern heart, uprooted, 

forcing myself to grow 

got my mother in a whirl, 

a little girl acting like a boy 

redneck, yellow face, ink-black hands 

"He told me to go back to ‘Nam." 

"So? Maybe you should." 

they call us crazy— 

the kids in the streets 

who don’t pretend to fit in, 

marching to our own beat 

loud and defiant, 

not what you'd hoped we’d be 

young Americans, dancing on our own terms, 

first-generation, second, or third— 

like freedom fighters in the sixties, 

ghostly heroes with wounded knees, 

dust-bowl dreamers, throwaway punks, 

we wade through history and plastic debris, 

scrappy, tired, fed-up kids—

riding the digital storm, 

fighting for the right to love our bodies, 

though the internet taught us to hate them— 

we sure hate you more 

tangled roots, echoing streets, 

dreaming of an American Dream 

each step, defiant, regretful, hopeful, 

better Americans than you 

see these tired, angry, messed-up kids 

run their names into the stars 

claiming a new hall of fame 

139 years since Tape v. Hurley, 

less than one since Nex Benedict's murder— 

we’re still screaming for rights, 

for the right to see ourselves 

in the pages of a history book 

i scribble pencil to paper, 

cheekbones pressed against the graphite— 

up in my room, I hear their shouts, 

spiraling up the fire escape like smoke, 

we are all mongrels 

our voices, a blend of dialects— 

young faces shaped by those before us: 

Dorothea Dix, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, 

Dolores Huerta, Marsha P. Johnson, 

Tye Leung. 

my high school English teacher said 

hate has no home here, 

like a magic spell, a hopeful veneer 

baggy jeans, splitting at the seams— 

dreaming of an American Dream 

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References: 

The theme of midwestern princess in stanza three is a reference to pop artist/drag queen Chappell Roan’s album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” 

The line, “got my mother in a whirl,” is a reference to a line from David Bowie’s song, “Rebel Rebel” 

The fifth stanza utilizes various American historical allusions, such as Civil Rights Freedom Fighters in the 1960s, the Wounded Knee Native American massacre in 1890, and the Great Depression. 

The lines “run their names into the stars,” and “hall of fame,” in the sixth stanza are references to the Stray Kids song, “Hall of Fame” 

The sixth stanza also references the court case, Tape v. Hurley, concerning the Asian American right to desegregated education and the murder of Nex Benedict, a young non-binary individual,who was murdered by two classmates due to their gender identity. The seventh stanza references various historical activists.

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Shel Zhou is a 17-year-old from the Midwest with a passion for healthcare, public health, and universal healthcare. As an advocate for gender-affirming healthcare and reducing healthcare disparities, Shel aims to make a difference in these fields. Their writing has appeared in Harmony Literary Magazine, Cloudgazer Magazine, Buttermochi Journal, and Young Writers Journal. Shel also serves as an editor for the Young Global Scientists Journal and is the founder of Inkbloom Literary Review and The Hummingbird Campaign.