i showed my students a picture of
my childhood home today
“I’m from a big white house
with the giant maple tree still standing”
These were the words of my
“Where I’m From” poem
“Que rico estuviera” YanCarlos called me out
not seeing the old Chevy Nova,
four bicycles on top,
my dad’s homemade trailer behind,
my mother, father, sister, me,
our dog, our cat,
inside the tiny car,
ready to drive 1200 miles
for a future in Denver
Denver, a mile high,
a million jobs,
or so we… THEY… thought?
How deceptive a photo can be,
bragging riches
when there were just empty pockets,
an almost-lost mortgage,
a pile of debt.
Yet here we are,
here I am,
begging them to write me a poem
even if it’s in Spanish,
Even if they haven’t a single photo of their home,
their family,
their past.
Where they are from
Is
And will always be
so much more painful
Than that old Chevy.