One Degree

For those forever moving, where do we have a sense of belonging?

I wonder—does the Pakistanti laborer in Dubai, high above the ground,
find home in the steel he fastens?

Does the Indonesian chef in Singapore, stirring old flavors in a foreign land, call the island home—or is it just a place to stand?

And what of us, a decade steeped into the United States, this melting pot?

I watch the news of this United States and the news of the land I once called home, I find comfort in distance—as if I am a bystander to both nations. Yet what I am not bystander to?

What are roots,
if not the places we leave behind
and the echoes that follow us forward?

Everyone is a parent;

Whether you are a parent of child, a pet, a plant; or if you realize you have become a parent to your parents.

Or for some of us, our parenting experiences start with parenting our own inner child-- an eight-year-old who is constantly scared of losing love, approval and recognition.

Do people's parenting styles differ based on the receiver? Why do people have to parent? What has power have to do with it? Is befriending a better mode of interpersonal relationship?