Forgive me, Borinquen
Our relationship is strained
I avoided you this long
And how I dare to say your name
Forgive this intimate gesture
While I try to reach across,
Across the land and sea
Across the English I was taught
And across the Spanish I don’t understand…
Or the Arawak that was lost.
We don’t even have to speak,
Would that be enough?
Forgive me, Borinquen
I don’t know what all was taken
But even worse, I fear,
I don’t know everything you’ve given
Forgive this glaring ignorance
It’s just that no one knows you here
No one knows the story
Or the story before the story
All I have are translations,
Just translations of translations…
There is only one source,
Would you share with me directly?
Forgive me, Borinquen
I am a conquered man with conquerors,
Allowed to stand beside them
And pick among their discarded treasures.
Forgive me this betrayal
I know it lingers in the soul,
In the distance between my family,
The air that gathers in the void.
A bitter taste on the tip of the tongue
Keeping me from rolling my Rs
A self-inflicted sentence,
Would you be willing to free me?
My Box of Unfinished Projects 