They warned them about us, about me.
We were one of them.
Not to be trusted, they said.

Don’t talk so loud, she said.
Speak English, she said.
So I went to my room and hid my dolls with wobbly heads.

They’ll be coming, don’t you doubt it, they’ll be coming
and we’ll be blamed
because of the curve of our nose,
the slant of our eyes.
Mark my words,
there’ll be hell to pay.