for Zenia and Alana

Paraguayan-American, very cloak-and-dagger.
Census form? Choose: White, Asian or Hispanic.
Too black-and-white, too cut-and-dried.
I’m not either-or. I choose all three.
Above the equator, it’s jack-o’-lanterns and Emily Dickinson.
Below, it’s re-super and hoy-mañana.
Pancakes for breakfast: Mumsy’s from Minnesota.
Empanadas for lunch: Papí’s from Asunción.
Bonus (or complication?): My grandparents are Indian, so
dinner’s anything with naan and turmeric.
I’ll share my téréré bombilla when I’m overseas,
but my white friends have a phobia of germs.
Good-looking, well-behaved, multi-cultural:
I am the hyphen,
the bridge that glues New Pangaea together.