Summer is here next week. Best way to celebrate is to think about where we are all from! JE Cabrera helps with her poem

Where I am from

By: Johanna Ellerbe Cabrera

I am from beaches that nourish your soul

and hurricanes that blow your mind, roof and floor boards

I am from tiny ants bubbling over sweet bread crumbs

dropped on Mami’s immaculate front porch

I am from tree climbing cousins that

introduced me to honied mangos and quenepas

I am from an unmentioned town

that no one knows about

until they need a Caribbean getaway

I am from Lela’s blissful kitchen and rosary schedule

I am from rice and bean dinners ready by midday and “you better clean that plate”

I come from the strongest women I have ever met,

their prayers and praises

to “go to school”, because “you are smart”

But choose a career suited for a woman, and choose a career for a mother

I come from words so honest they stab your soul for decades

and curses so loud they cure any ailments

I come from Vicks rubbed on your chest so you can breathe

and on your cuts so they can heal

I am from Sundays are for church and “damn it, sit still”

I am from my tribes’ prayers and tears,

I am from thick, thick, love and pasteles for breakfast

I am from poverty I did not know existed until I left home

and street games that we played barefoot

I am from rivers deep and muddy

shells for necklaces, and my flag on everything.