Christmas was in full swing everywhere. Wherever I went, old Christmas tunes played cheerfully in the background. In little stores, in shopping malls, in headphones of strangers with the volume fa ... [+]
I come from a place where kids line the cinderblock walls,
afraid to step on the lava in the center
because the carpet delineates
the safe from the dangerous.
I come from a place where imagination brews,
starting with my teacher's cauldron
and ending with my mother
teaching me her stew.
I come from a place where you choose
who you want to be,
look at those around you like choices,
and pick the crowd to be.
I come from a place where nothing is definite,
where the most certain of things
can crumble with the onslaught
of a new storm.
I come from a place where authorities are wrong,
but nobody gives a second look,
for he is this and he is that
as if it could excuse his example.
I come from a difficult place,
but not one that is impossible,
for if you do the right thing, always,
you will be who you want to become.
afraid to step on the lava in the center
because the carpet delineates
the safe from the dangerous.
I come from a place where imagination brews,
starting with my teacher's cauldron
and ending with my mother
teaching me her stew.
I come from a place where you choose
who you want to be,
look at those around you like choices,
and pick the crowd to be.
I come from a place where nothing is definite,
where the most certain of things
can crumble with the onslaught
of a new storm.
I come from a place where authorities are wrong,
but nobody gives a second look,
for he is this and he is that
as if it could excuse his example.
I come from a difficult place,
but not one that is impossible,
for if you do the right thing, always,
you will be who you want to become.