Where I'm From Poem by Dio Rivera

I am from a rusty brown treehouse,
Where my brothers and I would hang out
From toy cars and figurines on the floor
I am from a small white house where the word "No" is a joke
From a house where being a non-graduate is a hoax
I am from a rose
Whose shape is forming as life goes
I am from little crumbs on the kitchen floor
And little bugs climbing up and down our door
From the Martinez and Rivera
I am from a house which haunts my life forever
And from a proud family who came from Denver
From a house where access to drugs is easy to get to
From a confusing house where getting addicted is easy to do
I am from a loud house where we are Jesus lovers
I am from my father and my grandmother
From the smell of fresh frijoles and warm tortillas
From the sad day when my grandmother and her son thought "Why would he leave us? "
From when my grandmother could barely afford food for her and her son
From the day my mother left me to go have fun
I am from those moments where my scars will continue to tell the story of my life
From the moments where I will continue to stand brown and proud until I die