Meditation
Our identities are multifaceted, and for bilingual children of immigrants, there is a cross-cultural tension of finding where to belong. The children of Cuban immigrants, Vera’s poetry explores his shifting identity and the divergence and unity of his Cuban, American, and Cuban American self. This is especially true with language – when he finds himself poetically dreaming in English rather than Spanish.
Where do your identities diverge, and where do your cross-cultural influences unite? When one becomes more dominant than another, how do you manage the small shame blues? Where is the beauty in your multitude of identities? How can radical self love and self acceptance combat the small shame?
Brianna Curran, Washington, DC
