Mi papa me sienta en una piedra sobre el rio
bebe de 5 anos pelando un mango, y me dice:
Prepárate para aprender español.
Por que? Lo necesitas para tus estudios
Por que? Para aprender del mundo. En cultura
nueva.
Por que? Entendiendo como funciona otras
culturas es importante apreciar la tuya.
Por que? Tus abuelos sentirían orgullosos si
fueras a estudiar en la cuidad
Pero yo era la única de mi pueblo.
Solo. Sin familia o amigos.
Un dia, después de 7 anos, mi papa sits me down
on a bench,
paletas del plaza paletero in hand, y dice:
Prepare yourself to learn
English.
Why? You need it for studies in
the States.
Why? You have outgrown studies in
Mexico.
Why? Knowledge beyond these
lands, are best understood in a new environment.
Why? You would make your mama and
me proud.
But I was the only one to leave
from my home.
Alone. Without friends or family.
Years later, I sit on a Texas
bench.
Reflecting on conversations I
wish we had.
Those that would have helped me
understand the need to
Warp my brain to think in foreign
ways.
New codes, without proper context.
Use language rules, lacking true
rhyme or reason.
My tongue rung in ways she’s
never been exposed.
Mortified when I didn’t get the
syntax right.
Embarrassed when my layered accent
exposed who I truly am.
Years it took to shed the same,
Of speaking a dialect that is lost on colonized ears.
Years it took to love my native
language.
In understanding the stories of
my people.
Years it took to find tranquility
Of spitting out poetry in
languages that tried to bury my own.
Years of healing and rediscovery.
In order to realize it’s okay to
be a cultural melting pot.
I can love who I am,
unconditionally.
✊Sueitko Zamorano-Chavez
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