By John Mannone

I am Latino and far from home

By John Mannone

and I am proud. I am South America. I am Argentina. I am Uruguay y la ciudad de Montevideo, the place of my birth.

I am my mother’s puchero. I am empanadas. Sí, soy matambre arrollado. I am flan dulce.

I am the fig tree in Buenos Aires in the backyard of my childhood where mi abuela picked fruit for me. The peach and plum,

also. I am the rich dirt in the shovel in my grandfather’s hands as he dug up snake-sized earthworms just for me… tenía tres años.

Now, I am their memories as their bodies lay still under that good, quiet earth un poco más cerca de Dios.