Gibran Murrieta, Grade 12
UWC-USA
In the city of fields I reside
Where Cesar Chavez was once born, And where he ultimately passed A city of dreams, Of young and old Who seek better Who want to grow In the city of farmers I reside, In scorching heat, and freezing rows Full of sweat and ache A city of Spanish and English, Of Mexico and the U.S Of those who cross every morning for their family For the future of their sons and daughters Of those who seek a change in this world Connected by language and identity, Pain and poverty, Hope and history We stand together, As San Luis, and Somerton, Yuma and San Luis Rio Colorado, As a community of all But now I’ve left. Now, I’m surrounded by those like me. But also different from me From sharing the same hopes and dreams, To having different languages and cultures We all started the same: Confused, overwhelmed, nervous, and anxious Excited, emotional, welcomed, and free New to the lands, new to the culture Open to experiencing what we never could Though we all parted from our homes We created one together We made a place where we felt free, Where we could be whoever we wanted to be We made a place that we felt connected to, That we wanted to return to even if all odds were against us A place where we will miss the endless laughs, The parties, sleepovers, sleepless nights, The tea talks, emotional breakdowns, And the joint pain of walking up the stairs A place where we will remember the soft, cold snow Covering everything in sight in a bright, white sheet of coldness, Melting as it fell on our hands, our feet leaving imprints as we walked on by, and the screams of one another, as we ran from the snowballs being thrown at us. And a place where we will celebrate the friendships That we never thought would be possible Celebrate the moments that changed us Either for the better or for the worse Even when years have passed by, We will remember and miss those moments Spent in that small, lonely town, Surrounded by trees, and canyons Mountain lions and skunks Stressed out, confused, and overwhelmed Excited, emotional, welcomed, and free Because when we thought we had left our communities And left everything we knew behind us We had actually found our own community Created by each and every person in that small little town I had not lost the city of dreams and hopes Or the city of those who seeked to change the world I had not lost the city I once knew I had only found another one One called UWC. |
Guest Writer - UWC-USA |
www.unitedworldwide.co