THE SOURCE
THE SOURCE
By Mayra Flores
I always felt disconnected
From my neighbors and my friends
From the kids at my school
And the families on TV
A constant gap
A missing piece
A reminder of otherness
Ni de aquí, ni de allá.
Always grasping for the intangible
A feeling that left me like
A seed in the wind
Looking back, not knowing where
We’ve been
The history books we read
In class talked about
Generations of people
tied together by the
Bonds of lineage
Communities of our Indigenous
Peoples, connected to the
Earth, to the animals, to
Each other
Averígualo.
I yearned for this connection.
My parents’ severed roots
From their beloved México
The Pozo Santo where my mom
Swam with her brothers
Or La Plaza where my dad sold
Fruta to the faithful after church
Replanted on unwelcoming soil
And thriving nevertheless
despite the trauma
Always smiling, lifting me up
¡Mija, tú lo puedes tener todo!
The buds began to take
In the black asphalt below
The movie screens of
My beloved Pulga
The sun was still slumbering
When our Orange van
Drove up to our designated
Space every weekend
The Filipino family
Across the way would
Always wave to us
As we set up, offering
A hand or a watchful eye
The White man’s toddler
From the organic honey stand
Would hobble over, arms
Outstretched to give
my mom a messy hug
And the fruteros unpacking
Their trucks, calling out
The prices, the quality
Would always stop -
¡Buenos Días Don Jesús!
We grew together, on
Those hot summer days
Drinking agua de coco
While finishing pages
Of homework alongside
the constant disconnect
from my peers
I found myself in
Uncharted territory, once again
Places my parents had never been
The halls of a university, the
cacophony of a newsroom, the
screaming silence of a boardroom
Thirty six hours of my
Body breathing, breaking
Surrounded by mi mami,
Mi hermana y mi prima
Giving way to the fruit
That would connect us all
To this space
Dark eyes reflecting ours,
Firmly rooted, their place
Cemented in confidence
Securely tethered to me.
Al fin, amanecieron nuestras raíces.
