¡Mamá! I shouted. It was so wonderful to see
someone familiar again.
The guards, white as abuela’s
mejillas, Stared at me as I ran
down The hallway of the
enclosure.
I saw my mamá and papá,
Tears in their eyes, We
sprinted towards each other,
As though we were
maratonistas Breaking
through the ribbon,At the
finish line.
Earlier this year, We had decided to go to
the land of the Gringos, Live the American
Dream – el Sueño Americano.
But mamá and papá were taken from
me – No, I was taken from them.
All of a sudden I felt these hands around me, As
though my abuelito was hugging me, His warm
chubby hands holding me As the smell of pan
dulce – sweet bread, engulfed us both.
But something was different about those hands,
They hurt.
I looked behind me and saw a man, half
hombre half toro.
I tried to pull away to no avail – And
screamed, “Mamá, papá
ayúdenme”
Suddenly memories flashed through my head The
tortillas we used to make together, The time we spent
looking at the sunset, at my favorite playa And the
smell of my abuelitos… And then the memories
disappeared.
It occurs to me now that I won’t be there
anymore, Under the sol mexicano, Laughing
and eating tamales with my cousins, Tíos,
tías, abuelos, abuelas, and other relatives.
And now I might never even fulfill the
so-called Sueño Americano.
You need to wake up
Come back to reality
Right now, everything is perfect
Your favorite scene is playing
You don’t want it to end
You press snooze again
Each time, it’s harder to get back to that place
To your perfect scene
You slowly open your eyes
Because you know you’re running late
You try to close your eyes again
But when you do
Nothing… you get nothing
You try to start it playing again
Your perfect scene
It won’t come back to you
And the chances for it to come back again
Tonight when you fall asleep, are low
Your dream is gone
Your perfect scene is gone
During the peak
Of summer,
The blazing sun
Blesses the world with
Its welcoming rays.
A peaceful afternoon,
Wasting the hours away,
When all of a sudden,
A once serene day
Turns sour in an instant
A wild whirring noise
Proclaims its presence
To all who can hear
Once the sound
Of the dreaded machine
Enters the ears of an
Unfortunate fellow,
There is no question
That for the rest of the day,
They will hear nothing but
This very sound.
The monotone buzz
Erasing a layer of this
Fragile green carpet,
Its wild blades whirring
Stirring up a vortex of grass
Going pass after pass
Like a blender
That takes all ingredients
From their sources,
It slices and churns
This once peaceful meadow
All the while packing it
Into a large bag,
Is nature’s carpet
Really so dangerous
That we have to ruin
day after once-peaceful day
In this very way?
A letter in the mail
Is all I have
8 years of love
And
friendship
The memories
and the bonds
We will never forget
The photographs
And letters
on my wall
Flipping from the trampoline
Into the pool
The laughter
And experiences
We no longer
have
But the love
We still
Feel
My childhood
I will never
Get back
But I still
cling onto
With memories
And the letters
Signed
With love, From NC
Symbol of Love,
Sharing favorite music
Middle of the line connected,
Holding onto each other
Once we thought they wouldn’t fall apart
They seemed to be perfect for each other
But humans desired to move around easier,
Eager for too much comfort
It finally hurt each other
And separated them into two tiny pieces
Now they share a house,
But unconnected,
Not close enough,
No emotional exchanges
As we wish for more,
As we develop more,
We are getting further and further from each other.
It’s the muscles
in your face,
in her face,
in his face.
In each of our faces.
That change everything.
A simple contraction,
that lights up someone’s day.
Changes the mood,
of our fragile lives.
We are weak.
Each single person,
Alone.
But it’s our kindness,
our way of showing that we care.
That gives support.
Gives someone a sense of relief.
A moment of peace,
trust,
hope.
That we all deserve.
It is a beautiful smile, t
hat saves us.
I was walking at the beach,
Hopeless, lost, when I saw an old friend.
He came up to me and said,
“What’s the matter, why are you so sad?”
I explained to him,
That life wasn’t working out the way I had expected.
“Wait,” he said. “Wait one more day
But this time, don’t think about what has been bad
Think about how good life will be after that.
Just be hopeful and you will see
What life has to offer to you.”
I listened to him,
Dreamed of the day that I would retire,
Come to this beach and lie on the sand,
Listening to the calm waves instead of my misery.
That day, I began to feel better,
Hope was the key to a peaceful day.
By dreaming, I was getting one step closer
To that day which I would be happy
The cold wind rushes past me
while I stand on the mountain top
looking up into the star filled sky
feeling like I can fly.
Standing on the mountain top
is like no other feeling or thought
the glare from the moon and peaceful snow
puts you in deep thought and my mind glows.
On the mountain top
my feelings go wrong
my mind drifts away
and I feel gone.
The wind lifts and swirls,
waking up the slumbering world.
Flowers bathe in the mellow sun,
brushing their blushed faces.
Behind the cold metal bars,
I perch
with despair.
My legs are fettered
and my wings are wounded
by the bullet of power,
caging my freedom.
I have torn my throat
and rasped my voice,
exhausted and desperate.
Freedom flaps its wings,
leaving me without a goodbye.
Let them be as candy,
Always sweet and appealing,
but unhealthy.
I’d rather be a celery,
Green and powerful like the hulk.
To have fed millions of people around the world,
To be full of good nutrients,
To have kept so many people healthy and active.
I’d rather be disliked, and if
then avoided by everyone ,
than to be an unhealthy piece of candy,
Which is mass produced
by humans and not by nature.
I’d rather smell of the earth and soil
Than of food coloring and sugary crap.
If I could know I kept people healthy,
I’d rather be a celery.