How to Eat an American Mango
Slice two mango boats away from the bone.
Cut its flesh into a checkerboard--
Each juicy square is a piece of you that will never get back;
Scooped from the skin,
A girl removed from her homeland.
They do not tell you that
A mango tree will not grow here,
That your children will carry the stones
from discarded fruits in their bellies,
Searching for a soil warm enough to
sprout them into fruit-bearing plants.
Christine Liwag Dixon is a Filipino American writer and musician. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter @cmliwagdixon.