"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return,"- Moulin Rouge
Where I'm From
I am from charcoal,
from Clorox and Maxwell's,
I am from the barren dirt roads,
swirling, dry dust.
It tasted like spring and summer
I am from the lilacs, roses and brush,
the unforgiving currents of the winding Mississippi,
always pushing and pulling.
I'm from the Tolberone and the facetious,
from Maria and Dwayne and Carlo.
I'm from the temperament of a child and forgiving as mother,
From "Do your best" and "It'll be fine",
I'm from "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return" and
"She sees in black and white, thinks in greys but loves in color."
I'm from a different land, world filled with bread, beer,
Pan-sit and Mango's.
From the life my mother left to live,
the obsession of love stories by my grandfather.
In the junk drawer and treasure trove, lays in stacks of memories.
I am from resilience, steel and once upon a time's...
Little Rabbit
Riding on a peak of a man made mountain,
Twisting and cracking, my chest become agape.
Slippery mud squelching, and thorny vines whistling in the wind,
The living ropes become my throat.
Smoldering heat rising to my eyes, the sun lights making beads on my forehead,
Timid deer and shrill crickets dismiss my dismay.
My lamb hands pull and wrench away at the living ropes,
Father cries out in question,
I ask, “Why do you let it hurt me?”
His voice echoes, withdrawing…and disappears.
