FIRST GEN THOUGHTS
By Saraí Chavarria
Aborn daughter of immigrants
with the privilege of being born a citizen to a nation,
so full of opportunities yet so closed off
to the struggles, my parents struggled in order to get here.
My mind is filled with heritage confusion
of which English is crucial – and Spanish left second
although it was the first language this tongue spoke and recognized with the comforting notion of what home is...
“hese lips that only knew tortillas
and what this country of mine has assimilated as Mexican rice,
my only recognition of which I naturally just call “arroz”;
this mind of mine struggles
with this privilege that falls upon my shoulders.
Left intentional–
When my immigrant father crossed that “border”
to find a better life for him and his.
At the age of 16…
I have never felt the pain and dirt that my father had sowed en la pisca de Los Estados Unidosand the r e a l i d ad
of what living on el rancho really was…
