Stories in the Wind
these winds carry songs of yesterday
centuries in the making
from my ancestors who knew long before I did
that I would return to Her soil
that Her earth would tickle my bare soles
as a welcoming gift — the most precious
how often must those songs have carried pain
unbearable, a suffering-seeking escape
from the Spaniard colonizers?
it pains me so, even knowing I carry their blood
in my veins as well — the oppressors
oppressing my beloved forebears
each time I look up and gaze in awe
at the coconut palm trees, I wonder if they can feel
my gratitude, my sense of belonging
finally answered
I am home.
Gracias for reading.
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Acknowledging the Arawak, the First Peoples of Borikén, on whose unceded lands my work is created. In gratitude for and in honor of our Elders, past, present, and emerging. May my work always unapologetically and boldly uplift our wondrous Indigenous Taíno, Iñeri, and African roots.
