There seems like 50 of us
in this wedding picture.
Two little girls stand front and center.
My brown niece. His white niece.
Holding hands.
The contrast of brown skin
holding hands
with white skin.
Our picture is so enormous that
the photographer has everyone stand
where they can.
White faces strewn along brown faces.
There is no bride and groom side.
We are threaded together
into one rectangular space
– the sky can barely hold us.
What would my Filipino and Spanish ancestors
have said to
his Irish and German ancestors
on this day?
Their spirits hover
like haloes and I am wondering
if they were really angels.
It seems we imagine them so
when we both know
brutal colonization
buried in our history,
but on this day,
we stand happy under a blue sky.
Our ancestors couldn’t complain
even if they wanted to.
