Bi-Cultural

by Lee Erickson

Peony root ready to be planted.

Roots are never simple. They twist and tangle, hold memory in their fibers, and carry both nourishment and burden. Some grow deep into fertile soil, others into silence, shame, or secrecy. Peony roots especially remind me of this: thick, knotted, imperfect, still pushing up beauty despite what lies beneath.

Like roots, families hand down what they cannot untangle. Some of it sustains us, some of it stifles us. Writing Bi-Cultural was my way of naming the inheritance I never asked for — silence and shame — and the slow, deliberate work of breaking that pattern, of planting something new.

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Bi-Cultural

by Lee Erickson

I am bi-cultural,

not between languages or lands

but between silence and shame.

My feet firmly planted

in soils of guilt and grief,

roots tangled in silence,

branches heavy with secrets,

the weight bending them toward collapse.

How strange—

to belong to two worlds,

and feel at home in neither.

To inherit rituals

of swallowing grief,

of burying truth before it can surface.

Everywhere I turned,

searching for validation,

I met only scorn.

Ridicule—

the dialect

of my upbringing.

I learned

that loneliness was

just another tradition,

passed down like heirlooms,

tucked away like wooden toys

buried in the bottom of a cedar chest.

And what of those before us?

Raised in these same silences,

taught to steady a structure

already fractured beneath them,

taught not to question the hands that fed them,

taught escape was betrayal.

But now—

I am

the break in the line.

I am

the exile and the architect,

salvaging what can be saved,

letting the rest collapse.

I am

the one rewriting the story

of this family—

Only I can give myself a name

that was never whispered in their silence.

Only I can bleed

the silence

from my bones,

and draw the shame

from my marrow.

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Writing Prompts Inspired by Bi-Cultural

1. Think about an “heirloom” from your family — not an object, but a pattern, a silence, or a lesson. Write about how it was passed down and how it shows up in your life today.

   
   

2. What are the two “worlds” you feel caught between? They don’t have to be places or languages — they could be emotions, expectations, or identities. Write about the tension of belonging to both, and the cost of belonging to neither.

   
   

3. Write a declaration poem that begins with the words “I am…” Repeat that phrase to claim what you are breaking from, and what you are building for yourself.

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Disclaimer: The content shared here reflects my personal thoughts and professional insights, but it is not therapy. If you are struggling or in crisis, please call 911, go to your nearest emergency room, or dial 988 in the U.S. (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). If outside the U.S., please seek local emergency resources.