Go Back Motherland By Jasmine Low For my mother, Shirley Cheah. Written intermittently between 2003-2008. Performed at Time Out KL's Launch Party in March 2008, Frangipani Bar, Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. She’s there amongst us. She is our mother. She is Chong Qing As large as that 3,000 year old city of thirty one million individuals She snuggles beside the thighs of Yangtze and Jialingjiang And she breathes life Last Sunday he was significantly impressed Spotting her in dancing unison at the people’s park A duck rice meal and she was off like the Chung King express Qing Qing seals off her pregnant suitcase with red tape Even redder is her passport, tightly concealed between her navel and navy jeans And her cheeks, blossoming with that certain tell-tale glow The women from China My father would proclaim Are so pure, so innocent The women from China My mother would blaim Are so profane, so manipulative The women from China And I, me in the middle Are the centre of attention We, are one for all                   We travel on an express train from Dusseldorf to Prague And visit several bleak european cities We are the new age Chinese female And they know as they look at us with suspect Nationality aside We look the same As do Greeks, Italians and even DJs of Ibiza fame But we dress, think and eat different Those women from China Say those other women of similar heritage Who live in lovely manicured gated communities, Are dangerous! They steal our husbands They have children with the silly bastards Then leave in search of their American Dream, Leaving our poor bastards in a love stupor, unmasked and in trouble We, are the new Chinese women The daring females who voice opinions We light up Chinatowns And indulge in fusion conversations Qing Qing from Chong Qing Dons her wings She is ready to take flight Like a newborn bird leaving its nest for the first time For when she lands I will cease to exist As I was once exotic, you see Admired, desired, feared. But now the multiplicity in WE Our long black manes Our phonetically similar names Make us no different than just two independent women Yearning for some space in this crowded crowded world. Plagiarising will give u callouses and bad breath.   Copyright 2004-08 Jasmine Low. Send comments and feedback to girl_gungho@yahoo.com