“An Open Letter to My Family” Romeo Barrientos – Honorable Mention
Through the streets paved by the tears we shed. Here I see a place where no one belongs, A ghetto of good and bad, No other place to call home, yet I don’t feel welcome. Killing each other because they know no other way. Yet, you kept us away from the damage Out of the pain of these color wars Until I found what I was meant to be. Meanwhile you ran from it all, with an arrow through each leg Overcoming everything with no reaction and a flame in you Making just enough, but not enough. For you, I do more than I can every second Once I know you can feel okay Running, hoping I could outrun the life that followed me.
116
Vortex
Poetry
