"Cultural Survival" - Identity Issues

I was recently approached by a talented composer Thomas Geodecke, to write a piece focused on indentity loss, primarily regarding today`s indigenous people. I instantly was drawn to the project as I myself immediately identified with the subject matter having struggled with indentity throughout my own personal life. I know countless of you, can very well relate with the challenges of identity formation. I`m an Australian, with an ethnic Albanian heritage and now living in Switzerland for over 9 years. Moreover, my children already hold dual passports of both Australian, Swiss, and in a few years will be speaking five languages fluently.

Have you ever struggled with your identity? My troubling issues began when I visited the Republic of Kosovo in my confusing years as a teen - I felt out of place, could barely utter the language, and often brushed off "excuse her, she is not familliar with our customs." It was disapointing, not the people - they were warm and lovely. I did however connect with the traditional music, and I was up and dancing in no time. I won`t share anymore of my experiences because they are not concerning or as agonizing as what native tribes experience. They continue to be marginalised, manipulated and exploitated, forced to move away from their sacred land, and refused human rights.

I did some research in order to learn more about this complex subject, and trust it would assist my portrayal of a native, or biracial person in todays society. Mixed race individuals are the future norm! Already it is evident in most first class nations, especially within international cities where a high percentage of the poplulation are beautifully mixed. Although people with ethnic backgrounds &/or biracial people may find constructing indentity such a difficult path, I learnt that there are shifts taking place; instead society is struggling to define them. What`s your views on this?

Below you can view my recent poems "Cultural Survival", "Troubled Existance" (two versions) an account of a man trying to create an indentity for himself, straddling to cultures, experiencing disconnection to society as a whole. Comments are very welcomed, I appreciate feedback. Thankyou & Enjoy.

By Meg Nezaj (c) 2014 (Version 2)

I feel alone
All day I moan
Where do I call home?
Treading through dry land
I dream of turbulant rain
To wash out
Confusion, pain
Drench my feet
Into the earth
To sense I belong
Like a rock on the seabed
Never reaching ashore
Like a fish tossed in the air

I`m displaced in dispair
So I climb
The mountain`s edge
There awaits amity

By Meg Nezaj (c) 2014

Why do I live?
What to live for?
No place to call home
Treading through dry land
I dream
Of turbulant rain
To wash out
Confusion and pain
Drench my feet
Into the earth
To feel, to belong
Like a rock on a seabed
Never reaching ashore
Ethnic torture
Like a fish tossed above
– displaced
Like a frozen stream
– defeated
Like a mangoe covered in snow
How will its beauty be told?
Like an olive tree
Planted in sand
How will it grow?
I open my eyes
And all I see
Mixed races
All staring at me
They say this is the way
But my heart beats
To a distant sound
Everything is lost
Every part of me.