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.

Everything could be fixed if I just ran from it. Violent cries like a caged bird without a key Envying the easy life of kids in suburbs Running from the color of my skin, wishing I was born again. Yet, I see now the purity of brown. The shattering embrace of the past that created me. Here I stand over the cracked road, walking. I hate how much it hurts, yet I walk with a flame in my pocket. No more running, I live now to be better than the streets made of tears. Go live free now, I am okay. I promise.