¡Bienvenidos Al Barrio!

By: Abe Sierra Jr.

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En Mi Barrio...

...We Have​​

 

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Sky-Scraping Little People

Towering On Street Corners Like Lamp Posts,

 

Lighting Up Alleyways Littered With Contradictions.​​

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Men Who've Been Blinded

By The Dim Glow Of Their Own Imaginary Shine;

 

Women Going Deaf

From The Resounding Fabricated Facts

That Are Whispered To Them Daily;

 

And Mutes Who Speak Fluently;

Muted, Not By An Absence Of Voice, 

But By Society's Inability To Hear Them Out​​.​​​​​​​

 

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...Around here

We Have...

 

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Grown Infants Nursing Newborn Parents;​

The Lazy Working Tirelessly

While The Laborers Sleep.

 

Addicts Now Sober,

And Advising Their Intoxicated Sponsors;

 

Local Gangs Protecting and Serving

While The Police Are Thuggin' It Out.

 

 

 

But Not Everything Is Bad Though...

...We Also Have

 

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Poets Painting Pastel Portraits

And Graffiti Artists Wordsmithing Elaborate Verses;

 

Veteran Teachers Progressing Into Students,

Their Minds Fed By A Class Of Starving Children;

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Intellectuals, Illiterate

Yet Facilitating Pop-Up Philosophy Sessions.  

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Where I'm From

Paradox Is The Norm; It's A World of Its Own.​​​

 

To You This Might Be Confusing, Or Perhaps Amusing.

 

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...But To Me

It's Just Home...

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