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As always, every giveaway of mine hosts either a poem or a book quote. Who knows, maybe someone will eventually decide that poetry or that book in particular might be their cup of tea.
I created this giveaway so I could share with you something from a book I've just finished: "Petit Pays" by Gael Faye. Some books just kick you in the face without any warning. So do war, genocide, loss in the story of young Gabriel and in the history of his "small country".

"“Not one of them fails to ask me the same loaded question ... 'So, where are you from?' A question as mundane as it is predictable. It feels like an obligatory rite-of-passage, before the relationship can develop any further. My skin - the colour of caramel - must explain itself by offering up its pedigree. 'I'm a human being' My answer rankles with them. Not that I'm trying to be provocative. Any more than I want to appear pedantic or philosophical. But when I was just knee-high to a locust, I had already made up my mind never to define myself again.” ".

Gael Faye, Small Country/Petit Pays

I speak a little bit of french, so I managed to read the book in its original version.
"Aucune d’entre elles n’oublie de me poser la même question lancinante, toujours au premier rendez-vous, d’ailleurs. « De quelle origine es-tu ? » Question banale. Convenue. Passage quasi obligé pour aller plus loin dans la relation. Ma peau caramel est souvent sommée de montrer patte blanche en déclinant son pedigree. « Je suis un être humain. » Ma réponse les agace. Pourtant, je ne cherche pas à les provoquer. Ni même à paraître pédant ou philosophe. Quand j’étais haut comme trois mangues, j’avais déjà décidé de ne plus jamais me définir".