Photo and poem by Isabel Ros Lopez
Synopsis
With this poem I open a window for the reader to look through and turn it into a door through which we can both be who we are, in relationship.
My heritage is Andalusí---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Material should not be published in another periodical before at least one year has elapsed since publication in Whispering Dialogue. *أن لا يكون النص قد تم نشره في أي صحيفة أو موقع أليكتروني على الأقل (لمدة سنة) من تاريخ النشر. *All content © 2021 Whispering Dialogue or respective authors and publishers, and may not be used elsewhere without written permission. جميع الحقوق محفوظة للناشر الرسمي لدورية (هَمْس الحِوار) Whispering Dialogue ولا يجوز إعادة النشر في أيّة دورية أخرى دون أخذ الإذن من الناشر مع الشكر الجزيل
it is Mora and Romaní
Arab and African
Asian and American
Sephardic, Celtic and Berber
Catalan, Basque and Galician
from the peoples of the Iber
from those who were
or had been around here
and far beyond and closer still.
The beyond is after
or behind my town
your town and the history
we find after we dig
Do dig.
My roots are from many trees
we know they speak
to one another underground
their roots exchanging pulses
observations, wisdom, stories
and we still don’t know what else
My roots are from geraniums
jasmines and ladies of the night
orange blossoms
and through the hills
daisies and poppies
almond, olive and carob trees
dandelions, pomegranates
enchanted by the red earth
from oaks and poplars
beeches and sycamores
bougainvillaea and chamomile
I know their names and they know mine
My heritage is Andalusí
it is Mora and Romani
Arab and African
Asian and American
Sephardic, Celtic and Berber
Catalan, Basque and Galician
from the peoples of the Iber
from those who were
or had been around here
and far beyond and closer still.
In the end, I'm like you
and you're like me
we're related
we have the same grandmother
from the heart of Africa.
