Bonafide Rojas
THIRTY WAYS OF LOOKING AT A NUYORICAN
THIRTY WAYS OF LOOKING AT A NUYORICAN
I.
i do not wake up
to roosters, i wake up
to construction sights
& exhaling buses
II.
english was fed to me
by my television baby sitter
III.
i barely know
what oceans look like
orchard beach & brighton beach
do not count
IV.
i know how to grow culture
but don’t know how to grow food
i buy rice in bags, beans in cans
& piraguas in union square
V.
my skin is pale, my cousin’s skin is black
we are called white boy & negro
at the same time on the same table
VI.
i do not know how to hotwire a car
i don’t even know how to drive
VII.
i have a fear of needles, so being a junkie
was never a consideration but being a thief
(sometimes)
VIII.
i have a library of dead heroes
that i have stolen
IX.
as i remember it
i’ve been called jewish
more times after i turned
twenty-one for whatever reason
i’m very puerto rican
X.
i do not believe in haircuts
until i cut my hair again
XI.
when riding the train
everyone can be nuyorican
but most are new yorkers
XII.
i always get lost in queens
XIII.
i’ve walked into a riot once
& immediately walked out
XIV.
excelsior
XV.
in my house pictures of albizu campos,
jimi hendrix, che guevara, the beatles
& jesus christ hang next to each other
XVI.
people make fun of me for not knowing
how to drive then they visit new york city
& completely understand why
XVII.
police have stopped me
for looking too out of place
i was standing in front of my building
XVIII.
when in london searching
for a puerto rican flag is trying
to find a needle in a brick wall
XIX.
nuyoricans dance in their sleep
XX.
spanish does not make you nuyorican
english does not make you nuyorican
XXI.
pedro, papoleto, miguel, tato,
sandra, louis, jorge, algarin & bimbo
walk into a bar & performed magic
performed beautiful magic
XXII.
my obituary is not written yet
XXIII.
when i returned to puerto rico
everyone stared at me then i spoke
i think it was my accent
XXIV.
my son was born in chicago
lived in harlem
lives to michigan
is puerto rican & irish
& i keep his heart
in the bronx
XXV.
nuyoricans look like everyone
nuyoricans look like no one
XXVI.
i’m like every puerto rican you know
i’m not like every puerto rican you know
XXVII.
in the middle of the bandera
is the heart of a nuyorican
ask betances
XXVIII.
el morro is more famous
than the empire state building
XXIX.
a nuyorican & a puerto rican
walk into the bar & they both
ask for a cuba libre
XXX.
patria. sangre. libertad.