Author: StephannieL

This poem is personal. There is a law called, “marital presumption of paternity” it is listed on the nycourts.gov website. The law states, “…that the spouse is the other legal parent of a child because the couple are married. This is true even if the spouse is not the biological father or the mother and spouse are not married to each other now”. It does not consider that the spouse may not be the father due to separation or divorce. If the mother was married during the pregnancy, the biological father has no rights to the child.  

To know that someone that has never even met your child, does not even care for your child, has nothing to do with the child, has legal rights. It is terrifying. With no rights, the biological father has no responsibility. They can just walk away until it is rectified. My son is 9 years old; his father has no legal rights or obligations. My spouse lives in a different country, I have not seen him in 12 years. He has never met my son. 

Works Citied 

“Paternity if the Mother is Married”nycourts.gov nycourts.gov/courthelp/family/paternityMarried.shtml Accessed April 12, 2023. 

The Western Palace begins with Brave Orchid’s sister coming from China to America. She leaves all that is familiar to come to California. She has a Chinese husband who came to America a long time ago. Brave Orchid convinces her sister Moon Orchid to confront her husband after 30 years, who has a new wife in America. In China it is accustom for husbands to have more than one wife. “ A long time ago,” began Brave Orchid “the emperors had four wives, one at each point of the compass, and they lived in four palaces. The Empress of the West would connive for power, but the Empress of the East was good and kind and full of light. You are the Empress of the East, and the Empress of the West has imprisoned the Earth’s Emperor in the Western Palace(pg 143)”. Brave Orchid uses her stories from China to convince her sister to seek out her husband and, come to America. Unfortunately for her sister things did not turn out in her best interests. She ends up confronting her husband and finding out that customs are the not the same in America. Her husband is not happy to see her and says, “It’s a mistake for you to be here. You can’t belong. You don’t have the hardness for this country. I have a new life(pg. 153)”. This sends Moon Orchid into a downward spiral where she looses her sanity and ends up in a mental facility. Although I do not think Brave Orchid’s intention was to hurt her sister. She is living in America, and is stubborn with her beliefs. She forced her sister into doing something she was not comfortable with in the first place, because it was her will. Which in conclusion ended up being her sisters demise. The Empress of the East in the first text is Moon Orchid, she is good because she is the first wife. The Empress of the Western palace is the second wife, the one that has connived for power and is keeping the husband captive. These talk stories that brave Orchid is using to guide her decisions might not be the most reasonable, but they are how she is holding on to her Chinese culture and guide her in her life and her family’s choices. It is strange how the Western palace became the Western cage, and things did not turn out for her sister as she imagined they would.

My name is Stephannie, I am from Syracuse, NY. I am a non-traditional student majoring in Biology. Prior to returning to school, I worked full time as mortgage loan originator. If you know anything about the mortgage industry, it is volatile to the housing market. I decided to make a career change and, I ‘am looking forward to finishing my bachelor’s degree. In my free time I look forward to spending time with my kids. I also enjoy reading, journaling, and yoga!