Richard Blanco: Always, Always, Always Home

Tell your story of home
familia & belonging
race & nationality
the story begins before I was born
made in Cuba
assembled in Spain
imported to the USA
green card begins my story of belonging in
Cuba, Spain, USA
Cuba of my parents and grandparents
homeland that I belonged to in my imagination
​brady bunch trauma - did I belong?
America & its dead white guys - I question my Cuban identity
the Santos of Thanksgiving give breath to traditions
a poem I write of the America that I see
for the sake of coming la familia was left behind
dispair turns to inspiration and courage as I write mami's story
faith for a country and a journey I could never know
a poem I write for madre patria
where you choose to die - that is your country
cultural identity and sexuality merge and converge
oddity thrown  to gay - laugh at her and not with her
​a poem I write for Abuelita's Queer theory
quest for home and connections to half my world
Mark and me
Miami is the place I live which is the inbetween place
where everything changed
a poem I write about lost country - Gulf Motel
Maine and plaid and chromosomes that won't let me ski
will I be a man without dirt? Then...
Obama calls
do I love this country - what is my place - what does country mean to us
the gift is not Beyoncé - but that I was home
a poem I write of American tables and breaking bread