I
I was born beneath the white foam,
stirred up by Trade Winds,
and wild cohitre.
Saracen blood itches in my veins,
like it itches on my skin
the Caribbean Sun
on my freckles,
freckles stolen to
a far-away island
on the gelid seas.
On my white skin
carimbo burns,
as it burns in my heart
and is choked in my throat
a brave scream of war
silenced by the musket
carried by shipped-gods.
My lips sing
in vulgar Romance
while my feet walk
a road paved in cassava,
sugar cane and coffee,
and blue cobblestones
polished with salt,
sand and time...
***cohitre is a plant considered a weed purple and green that grows wildly in my Island's the countryside.
***carimbo is a branding iron used to mark slaves.
***While in this recent days, hatred has taken over the world and racial intolerance spreads in pandemic proportions, I, Puertorican by birth, celebrate precisely that "racial impurity" that makes us unique, beautiful and special. Genes carry on more than an aleatory assignation of melanin on skin, it also carries with it history and diversity. There's no racial purity. The world is a wonderful melting pot of cultures, beliefs, music, art and colors. Diversity makes us more beautiful and stronger.
