Photo Credit: Meryl Meisler (NYC, 1982)A tree grows in Brooklyn and so did my dreamson the cracked asphalt of tenement building stoopsa flower trying to break throughbut roses don’t bloom herethat’s what I was toldNever believing that I could ever see a world beyond my peripherystruggling with tunnel vision I watch passersby and they watch me, holding my baby close, never expecting me to flourish from unfertilized potential because young mothers never doFor years, I’ve sat here playing hide and seek with the shadeafraid to feel the sun’s gentle kiss, knowing that its warmth is only temporaryI was raised a warriorDodging verbal bullets of “you will never amount to much”Words that bore blisters on my spiritthe unbearable weight of shame pierced through my skin like daggersUncertainty became my daily make-updressed up in fear like I was wearing my Sunday bestI was brokenMenacing memories leave me maimedwanting to crawl back into uterine walls before aspirations were deceasedSomber portraits of deferred dreams sing soliloquiesinto succulent black holes of unfulfilled destiniesBut fate has not cheated me of everything because here you aregiving me a second chance to sew back the threads of life,I severed in order to surviveIn your eyes I see possibilityIn your smile, securityYour embrace reminds me that I am,StrengthCourageSurvivorCreatorWomanTeacherMotherYou are the hello that greets me every morningWith you I want to build legaciesAncestral ties bind us to greatnessI must set expectations high so that You,Me,We,Never settle for less. (written for Meryl Meisler & Defying Devastation)
nancy arroyo ruffin 