Katie Chung, age 16

Something that I have contemplated for years is the idea of identity and if one is bound to a singular label. I have realized the importance of intersectionality and how having different factors of our identity is beneficial to gaining a better understanding of our lives and the world around us: I can be a woman but also an Asian American, a creator, a feminist and writer. Accepting all these aspects and the privileges/oppressions that come from them has led to me becoming more aware of the fact that belonging is not where you are “supposed” to be, but where you long to be.

Identity Is a Strange Place

Identity is a strange place, isn’t it?

Blue waves cascade over a shiny piano.
Ivory keys glisten in the melancholy light.
But there’s also a light breeze,
smell of freshly mowed grass and gold rays.

Does one have to choose a place to belong?

Are we
Architects or admirers?
Writers or readers?
Listeners or speakers:

Are we confined to one or the other?

What if we are
Architects and admirers?
Writers and readers?
Listeners and speakers?

Identity is still a strange place.

But I want to be
where the ivory keys
and golden rays
meet.

Where
I can
Belong.