"Hola mi amigo"
That is how they greed us
in the states, but
don't blame them, because
we are the Latino's lost twin

Next time
don't let them
judge the book by it's cover
tell them that within the book
it reads:

we are pohnpei
the garden island in the pacific
on the map
we are midnight stars
in broad daylight, but
through the lens of a telescope
one shall be blinded by our beauty

for we are

sweet harmonies of birds singing
before sunrise, and
sweet perfumes of island flora
pouring through your nostrils
we are reflection of sunsets
stretching out into the open sea
glittering, like
diamonds beneath the sunlight
we are children in Christmas
crowding along the roads
clutching onto plastic bags
waiting joyfully for Santa
to ride into town and
rain candies on them
we are dusty old tires
diving and splashing into
muddy pool *** holes
on a paved road
we are coconut milk
leaking through
the valley of ten fingers
wedded in a shape of a ball
and pouring onto breadfruits
we are wooden hulls of canoes
smashing through the waves
like a bull through a red cape
we are grandmothers telling
ancient local tales to her kids
and fathers showing his sons
how to become island men
we are the powerful kava
repeatedly pounded on a flat stone
forming a liquid
brown as a chocolate milk
and when one drinks
the world suddenly becomes
a quiet peaceful place
we are pig meats
heated beneath flaming rocks
covered with banana leaves

we are proud and peaceful
we bow to show respect towards
one another, visitors and their highness
we have five kings
and we are one
our home abounds with mysteries
but we see what is behind the cover
some of us have left
to pursue their curiosities
but we will always be one
and when the rain
falls on a sunny day
we understand that
one of us is at peace

we don't have any museums
but we see our history through
Nan Madol
we don't have any towers
but we see our lands from
towering mountains
and we have seen them
burnt to ashes, but
we survived, and
we never left...

Let me be your bank,
deposit your heart to me,
and 'til the day you decide to withdraw it,
I promise you...
Your heart is safe with me

Have you ever had that one moment?
That one time?
When you thought "Everything is fine now"
When all the negativities in your life paused...Finally!!!
But than you came across another hurricane.
Twice as destructive.

The first one hits the moment God opened my eyes,
and it lasted for thirteen years.
I tried to escape, but I couldn't
Mom shackled me along her addictions.
She locked me away in her basement,
and filled it up with tear gas.

So I went to high school in the states under grandma's order.
Away from my alcoholic mother
Away from the torture
Away from the screaming
Away from the bleeding and beatings.
I finally escaped from this wasteland,
and now I am in a garden of roses.
Thank you grandma!!!

I found peace
I saw the world from a different perspective,
and never had to drink that salt water again.

But, I am back now.
Back to the birthplace of my nightmares.
And I brought souvenirs,
peace and I are friends now.
Wooh!!! Wooh!!! Huh! Huh!
Not so fast young man.

Grandma,
why is my calf been numb for the last five years?
Son are you saying what I think your saying?

So eventually,
I found out that I have been dealing with leprosy,
a life threatening disease.
I've had it for five to ten years max the Doc says.

To find better days,
one must fight through the storm.
To find peace,
one must swim through their tears.

And I have my whole life a head of me.
Tomorrow is a mystery,
but I will hold on hope.