Reflection

Reflection

I came up with the idea for this piece because my whole extended family is currently staying with us for my 8th grade graduation, so when I was looking for a topic, it was right in front of me. My work was inspired by my experiences being first-generation American as the child of immigrants from England and Venezuela, and the difficulty of wanting to connect with all of my heritage but belonging to a very different present at the same time. Both sides of my family have experienced very different challenges. The rural area in England where my grandparents live has experienced severe flooding; my Venezuelan grandmother has experienced water shortages and blackouts. The climate crisis has affected my family in different ways, but living in Chicago I'm now experiencing new challenges, including dust storms, tornados, and heat waves. This poem is my way of exploring the uncertainties that brings through these multiple lenses: my family and myself, their past and my future. Growing up in a very urban area, I'm trying to find my own way of constructing resilience. My family's struggles are all I have to work with but they're also insufficient; I need to find a way to construct resilience on my own terms. The Spanish lines reflect my grandmother's words (and my own bilingualism); translations are below: lo siento -- I'm sorry mi tomatico -- my little tomato prendieron el agua -- they turned on the water hablaremos más tarde -- we'll talk later perdido -- lost, missing