I Remember

I Remember
© Ramón Piñero 11/4/2005



Once you asked me,
"where you from?"
"I mean...you look
Black...but you
Sound 'white'

I really never
knew how to
answer that;
Then it
Hit me.

I am from
everywhere

I am from
every corner
of this planet
My line runs
through
Mother Africa
and the
Mediterranean
my blood
stains the
battlefields
of Zululand
I am the
last Taino;
I am
the son of
rape,
I am the
product of
your
incest.

I remember
once you
asked me..
"where you from?"
you don't
look like
you from
'round here...

I am
from all
around
you.

I slaved
on your
plantations
and
worked your
haciendas.

My mother is
the Earth
My father
is the
sky...
my sister's
name is
Luna
and
Changó
has my back.

I am the
Rising Sun
and the
sleeping
dragon,
I am that
child
you left
to die.


I am
from every
corner
of this world
and
sometimes
I am
in the other...

You left
me for dead
in the
desert
You drowned
me in your
bathtub
because
I was
too dark.

I am
from
all around
you.

I am the heat
of the midday sun
I am the cold
of the
deepest night,
I'm from all
those places
that scare
you,
I come directly
from your
nightmares.

I am also
your dream
come true...

I am from
those faraway
places
that you hear
about in
fairy tales...

I am from
the land of
the drum...

I am from
the land of
peyote...
my grandfathers
chewed coca
my grandmothers
wove alpaca...

I lived at
the top of
the world
and rested
at the
bottom of
the sea.

My playthings
were boulders
and mountains
were my
hiding places

I am from
that space
under your bed
and in your closet.

I am from
that place
you only
see out
of the corner
of your eye

I come from
that place
you only hear
about in whispers

I make the
hairs on
your neck
stand up
at attention.


I remember
once you
asked me...
"where you from"...
???