Where I'm From by Cristi Cruz

I'm from an island in the Caribbean where the threatening sun burns your skin,

But you are used to it, so you cannot feel its warmth chasing after you.

I'm from an island where the sea is clear and deep blue,

Where there is nothing found in the sand, but small crabs and abandoned white and brown shells.

I'm from an island where the children, regardless of age, run errands for their parents;

Where they run to the small supermarket at the corner of my house to ask for fifteen pesos of

cheese and salami, five pesos of butter, and two loaves of bread;

Where notebooks are too expensive to buy, so students usually only have one or two.

I'm from a small town called Bani,

Where there is freedom, fresh breeze;

Where your friends and neighbors pass by your front yard waving adios over the fence.

I'm from a small town where the children chase the ice cream truck or the vendors on their

bicycles selling penguin icys;

Where the children rush to the living room and ask their mother for fifteen pesos to buy ice

cream.

I'm from a small town where a dark-skin woman passes by balancing a large bowl on her head

filled with popcorn bags to sell;

Where children, small as eight years old, pass by selling the alive iguanas they had captured

earlier that day.

I'm from New York,

Where people would never speak to you unless they actually know you;

Where there is a “land of opportunities”, but there is also a white supremacy, police brutality, and

prevalent gender and racial inequality.

I'm from a lovely home in Bushwick,

Where my mother's comfort and support brings me peace;

Where my five year-old niece opens the front door with a smile on her face,

And where my best friend lives two blocks away.

I'm from an endless dream,

Where my nieces serve as my backbone to help me stand.

I'm from a cloudy bubble,

Where my thoughts take control over me, yet my brain goes non-existent,

And my heart is more powerful than my reasoning.

---

Cristi was born in the Dominican Republic, but was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She loves writing

when she feels strong emotions about something. When she suddenly gets a piercing feeling of anger,

sadness, passion, regret, you name it, she writes down how she feels and, somehow, it turns into poetry. Writing poems is her form of self-expression and freedom. Cristi does not write for a particular

audience; she writes for herself and hopes that some people will be able to relate to her writing.

Instagram: cruz.official

Website: https://annikaaguila.wixsite.com//filmphotography

Cristi Cruz