Written by: Neisha
He packed his pride in his carry-on;
It had to be within reach.
He took off for his homeland,
My mother’s land,
But she and I remained here—
In the land of the free,
The place of opportunity,
Where I would stay as he denied me.
He took off into the sky
And though his luggage may have been heavy,
His burden was light.
He left her with all of the responsibility.
He left her with me
He left me. Behind.
He settled back into his land,
Where they spoke his native tongue,
While I stayed miles away,
Not realizing what he had done.
He sweats underneath the Caribbean sun
After a hard days work
While I look for emotional protection,
But find none.
He rises to the sway of tall palm trees.
The brown of the mountains.
The blue of the sky.
While at home I am weighed down by insecurities that have blackened my mind.
He tells me that he loves me
And I wonder how could this be
When he didn’t even care enough to feed me?
Neisha is a 31-year-old Brooklyn Native. Both her parents are Dominican born and bred. Although she doesn’t consider herself a writer, she has been writing poems for therapeutic purposes since she was 13. As an adult, she continues to do the same.
