This want of knowing is greater than the need of oxygen in my lungs For, to be alive and not know who you are or where you’re from is not the same as living. De donde vengo yo is not a question. It is a statement. An affirmation of where I’m from. Because where I’m from, history wears the face of family. It’s my grandmother’s … Continue reading De Donde Vengo Yo (Where I’m From)
if you were a pure bolt of fire cutting the skies i’d touch you risking my life not because i’m brave or strong but because i’m fascinated by what the outcome will be. ~Nikki Giovanni *That excerpt is from Nikki Giovanni’s poem Fascinations. Continue reading Fascinations
I first wrote this poem about 2 years ago. I wanted to put into words or at least try to put into words the aching emptiness in my heart. Today, I re-read it for the first time in almost year and now that I am 9 months pregnant I can finally say that I’ve been chosen. I am living proof that when you finally start … Continue reading The Chosen…
Life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness can only be found in books our youth cannot access. It is not our fault that you cannot read. War is expensive, education, the price. Single mothers start saving up bail money. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. We are not responsible for what happens to you behind interrogation walls. Please sit quietly as we coerce you into a false confession. You are innocent, until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, except if you are Troy Davis. If we mistakenly execute you, please accept our sincerest apologies. Continue reading Poem: Public Service Announcement
I remember azzure blue simplicities before impressions and tones and presences were overlaid by memories. Memories of innocence, of loved ones of high school graduations that will never take place. Scattered remnants of those tentative first life impressions that no longer exist. The morning paper reports realities of murdered children who wore hoodies and craved skittles and iced tea. Whose only crime was being at the wrong … Continue reading System Failure (4/30)
She is a living record of what can’t be found in history books Diluted sheets can never capture the layers of life that she wears on her face like armor. Each crease, sculpted by the love for her children. No nip and tuck to help erase the bitter winters that pierced through her skin like daggers or the nights she laid her head against bare floors that … Continue reading She Is History (3/30)
Shattered dreams always drown in pools of potential once full of promise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blood lines are all that remain as reminders of life taken too soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nightly visits, he gently nudges on my door begging me to let him in. ~a Haiku poem is a Japanese poem with the first verse with 5 syllables and the second with 7 syllablles and the 3rd … Continue reading Haikus (2/30)
A lifetime half lived, spent wondering if I am worthy to be blessed with the Valuable gift of your precious life. Almost eleven years in the making because some things just can’t be Rushed, knowing that in this time and in this place you were made for me I will cherish my new title, in gratitude, knowing that I have finally been chosen to Experience a … Continue reading Acrostic: AVARIE (1/30)
A portrait hangs on the wall Of a Taino queen She has my abuela’s eyes Sugar cane skin Emitting light That illuminates our potential History wears the face of family Looking to the past, to create the future I reach through centuries to reclaim that which we have forgotten, forgone, and been stripped of Honor, power, strength, self-respect Once petroglyphs etched on stone Are … Continue reading Regreso
Crickets sing lullabies in uncharted latitudes where earth meets sky, butterflies dance against the tree lined milieu like a Thomas Kinkade masterpiece Shadows cower beneath the shimmering touch of the moon Weaving a future from a tangled past, trying to erase a life rich in history Bells toll, the street light flickers Concrete and cement yards replaced by soccer moms and bustling children. … Continue reading Untitled
nancy arroyo ruffin 