kulfi

Raps got gori girls going golly gosh
Desi girls saying "va alishan kasi baat"
Chali-haat young bengali oligarch
Bollywood polyglot, khan kareena's bodyguard

Sagging skin face look like salvador dali art
When I was six, mom used to shop at the dollar mart
Namak para, chicken tikka shan in the shopping cart

Then I moved to Main Street, 27 bussed it
Styrofoam biryani while I rode up to the masjid
Give me any font script, I bet I could bust it
Arabic to sanskrit, fajr to al-maghrib

Y'all can call me zina cause I'm nothing you should fuck with, baate with the aunties at the Pakistani functions
Chuckle with the uncles over khulfi and jelabi
Allah-bakshe if you play me, you might maybe catch these hands like henna mehndi
Call me akshay, hera pheri, can you blame me

But
I bleed brown
Y'all can never take that away no

Foreigners get the boot like brasilly presidenta
Further from the truth, making mentes in fazendas
Sempre alimenta, chicken nug, monica
Pops quit smoking now he puffing his harmonica

Never had a turma, ago was the only one
What the funk is starbucks, quero cafe da manha
Dalmata, seeing things b&w, musica
Be above, be a beetle, mama had a fusca

Incorrect grammar like mano who done shoot ya
Racionais wu tang 'spiracao, 2pac
If you step inside my casa, best to take ya shoes off
Don't wanna see nothing suja, it's true my

Parents learnt english speech watching the news
I had cookies, milk dipping, Tigo majin the buu
Rocking the bowlcut, dressing in overalls
Binging with bowls of cocoa puffs since I moved

But
I bleed south, ya'll could never take that away no

Post-election my white friends tell me to be brave
Dad says I should behave
Mom says get a clean shave

Hijabi aunties jilt mantillas like they in a heat wave
Cousin saying this shit's like what jim crowe was to free slaves
Uncle disagree with that analogy that he gave
Says the fact that we don't feel safe is proof that we just need faith

Cousin zoning out on youtube watching Louis C.K
Dad starts talking bout islamic faith and has a field day
Ammi change the subject by handing out chai and tea cakes
Saying "pi kay dhekley", they answer "bilkull theek hai"

I'm there in the corner playing DK
Kong
Country
Collecting all the red balloons for funsies
Mom is making lassi, mango, asks me if I can go
Pray with all the family
While she counting out the tasbih
Fussy, I tell her not to rush me
Like mom, I'm on the mine cart level and I'm rusty
Trust me, mom pulls out the plug tho
I can't really front tho, make my way downstairs and I read as'r with the uncles

Aunties asking me about my love life
Say they a know a girl in peshawar for me that looks like
A cross between aishwarya and like, the emma stone type
Saying I should wife her up on viber, maybe on skype
Lately I've searching for my dhulan with my phone swipes
Lately I've been thinking bout my own tribe, drone strikes

But
I bleed brown
Y'all can never take that away no