Where are you from? A poem about the in-between
I would like to dedicate the following poem to all those who grapple with answering the question of where they are from, who have parts of themselves in various cultures and places, this is for you.
The In-Between
So...where you from?
Great, once again that dreaded question
A confusing melange of various possibilities
Do they mean where I’m born?
Where my parents are from?
Where I was last?
Or where I was the longest?
In my head places racing
All the things I wish I could say
Wishing I could just say one place
With confidence, determination, and no looking back
But that isn’t my reality
Finally speaking out I explain. I explain.
I explain without looking back.
I’m from satays and roti canai meals nearby orangutans
The chick chacks on our living room wall
Boleh’s, Lah’s, nasi goreng’s, and myteksis
The air conditioned humidity of it all
But I’m also from dark chocolate petit lu’s
Cafes, bakeries, bustling streets
Small wooden people watching chairs
And saxophones resonating my 8am transport
In the shadows of the eiffel tower
Lies the 3 meter waves of the Atlantic
Bungalows befriended by hippos
Portuguese meshed with Francais
I’m from a place where permanent addresses don’t exist
Where stability resides in unsettlement
Where roots are torn apart before they’ve had a chance to bloom
Where it’s a race to pack as much of your life into one suitcase
A constantly changing game
In which one doesn’t have a choice to play
Where borders are imaginary
Earth’s lands, cultures, flavours and spices meshed into one
Where newborns are flown across the atmosphere
Before their own two feet can bring them to the streets
I’m from a place where souls are driven by the new
Where there exists infinite roads untraveled
And homesickness isn’t for our “homes”
But for the places we’ve never been.
I’m from that place in-between
Just left and not yet arrived
Longing to return
Longing to depart
Longing for the fresh, comforting sense of connection
A bridge between worlds
I’m from….. that place in-between.
Where homesickness isn’t for our “homes”
But for the places we’ve never been.
Madeleine Lefeuvre ©2025