march20|kamusta's & como estas'

Kamusta’s and Como Estas’
(vertical rhythm | draft 3)



Brown bodies bent
Aching, breaking, taking
Green grapes from the earth of our mother’s veins
Sunburned backs, blistered and red
Making already brown faces more brown
Vera Cruz and Chavez played together
Like Hector and Johnny
Yes, we played with the Mexican kids next door
And together, we picked berries by the creek
Like farm workers picked grapes in Delano

Nanay Gloria’s fresh baked pan de sal and packaged pan dulce for recess
We go together like arroz y frijoles
Like kanin at pansit
Like leche flan and tres leches
From the Philippines to Mexico
From ‘Ya basta!’ to ‘Makibaka!’
We are more than the Spanish tongue that binds us
More than the fried lumpia and flautas that we eat
Indeed, we are the accomplished dish of Spanish cooking

Pilipinos and Chicanos
Two crabs tangled in their own mentalities
Pinche colonizers’ own bucket
Ignorance is not bliss, it’s premeditated violence
We throw down in the avenues like there’s no room for coexistence
Create artificial borderlands to separate our similarities
Purposely parting our parallels
I claim my block as you run your street
I claim this corner while you run that alley
We make believe like our masters make us believe that we are different