Rhino Poetry Session, 04/01/2009

Grandpa, My Old Abuelito
Jose Gonzalez (mentee)

I saw with pain, with fear, with sadness
You were the person that I wished I had more time with.
I watched you smile through a 4 inch window, happy to see me after a couple of years
I saw you place your hand on the glass so that it lined up with mine
And as I saw your hand rise up, I saw your hand like branches on a tree holding family together.
But after you left, the family separated into different directions, and so everyone scattered like splinters on a broken log.

I love you Grandpa, my old Abuelito
I imagine you working on construction and looking down to see the family
I see you sitting down on a chair telling stories of your childhood.
I imagine you screaming my name in the crowd and giving me a thumbs up.
Now I see you fly free, while I wave goodbye.
I love you grandpa, my old Abuelito.

Rhino Poetry Session, 04/01/2009

Maria
Dennis (Rafiki) Rivas (Mentee)

Maria,
All the recollection of my childhood memories remind me of all the worries we engaged, I, only the neglection of my father became an injection to you as I grew.
I poisoned your big kind heart, worse I hit it with a dart causing a leak making you weak while I stepped a new life… into the street.
Every crime to you was a whine, an 'oh my', an, ‘Oh why?!’
Your love only became bigger.
The hate I had to my father only incremented while I implemented all my negativity towards you.
My mother became the pipe and my father that man on the corner who always tried keeping me sober but how ironic he was the connect.

Maria,
I felt your pain and heard you shed those tears and my fears kicked in.
I found a resemblance to my father.
My body broke down, my soul broke down, my tears broke out.
My tears were what Maria and I needed.
My tears brought us closer.
Now we truly are mother and son, Maria and I.

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