This poem is for you,
the lady that clutches her purse when I sit down near you,
that looks amazed when I say I have more college degrees than you,
that I speak two languages and was brave enough to leave everything behind to follow my dreams.In each glimpse you give me
I can feel your scorn,
because I am not white like the snow,
because my English is accented.
When you look at me over the shoulder
you lose sight of my dignity,
of me and all my people, who wake up before the sun rises to pick up the fruit you eat in your nice house in the suburbs.
When you look at me like a second class american citizen
because I am puertorican,
you forgot the historic fact,
that your country invaded mine
and my people died in your wars when you were dancing fox trot in Myrtle Beach.
When I look at you and smile,
what I want you to realize is that no matter if I arrive in the Mayflower,
in an airplane,
or if I swim thru the Rio Grande or across the desert or the sea in a canoe.
How I get here does not matter.
The issue is, whether you like it or not,
I am here and I will not leave.
Meanwhile, back in suburbia, her well built McMansion is impeccably clean, and its garden perfectly manicured. She won´t cook tonight. She never cooks. She´s got reservations.
—Is ebritin oquei, maán? —asked her the accented, dark, tall and handsome waiter.
—Just fine! —she says —Just bring us some margaritas, chips and guacamole, because tonight we are celebrating the Cinco de Mayo… By the way Juan, are you Mexican?
el “i will not leave” no me convence, tanto en el poema como en el concepto temático. el issue no es is nos quedamos o no, en todo caso deberíamos tener la idea d ir o volver como quisiéramos. podría ser que no te vas porque a tu interlocutora la de la gana o lo desee, o que estás allí y punto, a pesar de ella.
y a este verso “that I speak two languages and was brave enough to leave everything behind to follow my dreams” le falta un “I” en ” and I was brave enough to …”. en español no se usaría ese segundo yo, pero el inglés es así, como egocentrista. :S
Una vez me dijeron en Kansas que yo era subnormal porque no podía expresar en inglés lo que sentía en español.