Ratema Uch cannot be found in a dictionary.
I am Cambodian,
but I don't look it.
I am Cambodian,
but I don't speak it.
I am Cambodian,
but I am defined as American.
How do we define ourselves?
Definition.
A word defined by its own definition:
The act of defining or making definite
Definition.
My parents saw death firsthand,
courtesy of the Khmer Rouge.
They hoped for a marriage
that would last overseas
- an American lifestyle
that would give them the definition of "normal".
My parents define me.
From a country where trash is more frequent than dirt
- Cambodia.
This country defines me.
From a society that plants ideas in our head
like Inception.
This society tries to define me.
As a daughter,
I work hard to make my parents proud,
but what they don't know
is that they made me proud
- Surviving a battle that took them years to overcome,
They made it.
Pass the Killing Fields
and into a big yellow house on a hill.
Their determination defines me.
Through the struggles of our parents and our ancestors,
The battles of our past,
And the hopes and dreams of our future.
There are some things in life that cannot be defined in one sentence.
And I stand among them.
I am defined by the endeavors of my parents,
the success of my sister,
the ghosts of Cambodia,
and the births of my future.
I am above the definition.
- written by me but rearranged by Christsna Sot :]
