My mind recalls the flight of dreams

From the land of its birth.

Sight and touch mount the streets:

Perch on the whiz of gaits in New York;

Cry with the bawl and howl of hagglers

In San Francisco Chinatown;

Pierce bruises on my hands

As I erase the grimes of bathrooms in Waikiki;

As I rinse my wounds with the bubbles of Miami.

In Alaska, I brave the gnawing cold as I jerk tunas.

In Seattle, I hum with the crescendos of sardine cans

As I snag my throat dry with the foreman’s blasts.

Ay, I balm my pains with the spins of blues and jazz,

Celebrate the assaults of misfortunes

As my children cultivate a new tongue.

Here, there, I join the race of speed, brain and brawn--

As I burst to oblivion,

As I sink to extinction,

Unnoticeably giving birth to a new

ME.