I Reinvent Myself. I Have To Grow My Roots Again Poem by RIC BASTASA

i think much better in
english. sorry, but that is how i was
brought.
every hour, every book,
every lecture in school is in english.

now you are telling me to return to
my home.
be back in my house. familiarize
myself again with my childhood
bed. my wheelbarrow.
that slingshot, that river,
that swing.

i met old friends again back
in that barrio.
we have become strangers.
i have feelings that they simply
dismiss as overrated.
i am alone in the midst of my
memories.

i want to run away. But i have
nowhere to go.
i am back. I reinvent myself.
i have to grow my roots again.

i will be another tree in this forest.
let the monkeys come.