NIA RICHARDSON
SUSANA CASTAñEDA
WHERE I’M FROM
NIGHT
Where I’m from, I’m tropical.
Where I’m from, I live in the Bayahibe Rose.
Where I’m from, I am a palmchat
Soaring through the sky.
Night comes. The walls are hearing.
The wind is watching.
A young girl is walking in the dark.
She trembles as she goes along.
I’m from the burning sun. Where I’m from
There are gun shots that fire at night
And there are cries for help.
Where I’m from, Christmas Day is celebrated
Every night. There is food shared
between family and friends.
She runs like a deer when she hears a sound,
She talks to the moon
And asks if she is near.
7th GRADE
Where I’m from, the neighbors
Are always in my business, and they are loud
And annoying. I’m from a wine-red garnet.
Where I’m from, we dance bachata and merengue.
Where I’m from, my grandmother has us gathering
Around the table, praying and thanking God
For saving us. Where I’m from, I eat tostones,
Arroz con habichuelas y pollo and pan.
Where I’m from, the neighbors give me a strong stare
Like they are going to murder me. Where I’m from
We twerk, we whine, we do the red nose
And the gas pedal instead of being regular.
Where I’m from, it rains, snows and hails.
Where I’m from is a neighborhood
Where you can get kidnapped. Where I’m from
Is New York and the Dominican Republic.
8th GRADE
Something is hiding in the dark shadows
Looking at its prey.
She feels a cold breeze, as if the wind
Were trying to tell her something.
The night comes, the walls are hearing,
The wind is watching, a young girl
is walking in the dark. She is trembling
As she goes along.
The wolf hunts its prey,
The walls hear the cry for help.
The wind was just watching, the young girl
Covered in blood as thick as honey.
The night comes,
the walls are hearing.
The wind is watching.
6 Train Volume II: 2013–2014 |
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