WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.430 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.430 --> 00:00:03.540 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:05.250 align:middle line:84% And I'm going to close with this poem 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:09.150 align:middle line:84% because it's one of my longer poems, and I rarely read it. 00:00:09.150 --> 00:00:12.510 align:middle line:84% But it's really, I think, appropriate, 00:00:12.510 --> 00:00:17.610 align:middle line:84% growing up, moving from Puerto Rico to the Bronx. 00:00:17.610 --> 00:00:19.830 align:middle line:84% And I'll talk more about her probably later, 00:00:19.830 --> 00:00:24.270 align:middle line:84% but my grandmother who's still alive to this day, she's 91, 00:00:24.270 --> 00:00:26.970 align:middle line:84% was the one who really has always pushed 00:00:26.970 --> 00:00:29.610 align:middle line:90% education and literature. 00:00:29.610 --> 00:00:31.980 align:middle line:84% She was the reader in the family. 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:34.890 align:middle line:84% And even to this day, for Mother's Day 00:00:34.890 --> 00:00:38.220 align:middle line:84% last year, I bought her the Michelle Obama biography 00:00:38.220 --> 00:00:42.370 align:middle line:84% in Spanish because that's what I would do for her. 00:00:42.370 --> 00:00:44.910 align:middle line:84% I would buy her all these biographies in Spanish. 00:00:44.910 --> 00:00:51.270 align:middle line:84% So moving out here, being educated in the Catholic school 00:00:51.270 --> 00:00:53.730 align:middle line:84% system, one of the things my grandmother would say 00:00:53.730 --> 00:00:56.190 align:middle line:90% is, no pierdes tu idioma. 00:00:56.190 --> 00:00:58.260 align:middle line:90% Don't lose your language. 00:00:58.260 --> 00:01:02.070 align:middle line:84% And so it was interesting growing up hearing that always 00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:03.750 align:middle line:84% and almost as if language is something 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:06.402 align:middle line:84% that you can lose like your glasses or your keys almost, 00:01:06.402 --> 00:01:08.610 align:middle line:84% like it was this tangible thing that you're like, oh, 00:01:08.610 --> 00:01:09.480 align:middle line:90% where's my language? 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.670 align:middle line:90% Oh, aquí está, right? 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:13.960 align:middle line:84% And it was just really fascinating to me. 00:01:13.960 --> 00:01:17.710 align:middle line:84% So I took this idea and I ran with it. 00:01:17.710 --> 00:01:21.270 align:middle line:84% And so this is the narrative poem that came from that. 00:01:21.270 --> 00:01:25.260 align:middle line:84% It's called "A Journey for the Mute." 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:28.080 align:middle line:84% "Salvador woke up one morning in silence. 00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:31.050 align:middle line:84% His lips opened but only air resonated. 00:01:31.050 --> 00:01:35.400 align:middle line:84% His hand reached into his mouth and searched for his voice box. 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:39.480 align:middle line:84% His voice box was alone, feeling the loss of its companion 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.040 align:middle line:90% language. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:42.960 align:middle line:90% Language left Salvador. 00:01:42.960 --> 00:01:46.680 align:middle line:84% Questions drove him drunk with no answers for sobriety. 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.260 align:middle line:84% Salvador tried living without language. 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:52.860 align:middle line:84% He communicated with noises, wrote sonnets for the lonely, 00:01:52.860 --> 00:01:56.760 align:middle line:84% had imaginary conversations with imaginary people. 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.420 align:middle line:84% In his new travels, he searched and searched lifted boulders, 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:03.570 align:middle line:84% dug through graveyards, hoping to find it sitting, 00:02:03.570 --> 00:02:05.940 align:middle line:90% waiting to be found. 00:02:05.940 --> 00:02:10.530 align:middle line:84% To Salvador, this hide and go seek game had no end. 00:02:10.530 --> 00:02:14.880 align:middle line:84% His life remained still and gray as he continued on his journey. 00:02:14.880 --> 00:02:18.150 align:middle line:84% Passers by like Don Loco Santana would 00:02:18.150 --> 00:02:20.160 align:middle line:84% ask, when was the last time Salvador 00:02:20.160 --> 00:02:22.740 align:middle line:90% remembered seeing his language? 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:25.470 align:middle line:84% Salvador's mind rewound to the last night 00:02:25.470 --> 00:02:27.750 align:middle line:84% his mother read him a bedtime story. 00:02:27.750 --> 00:02:30.270 align:middle line:84% She would translate Little Red Riding Hood. 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:33.960 align:middle line:84% And her version, the hood was rojo, the wolf was a lobo, 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:35.640 align:middle line:84% and the grandmother sounded a lot 00:02:35.640 --> 00:02:39.720 align:middle line:84% like Abuelita Consuela who died when Salvador was 12. 00:02:39.720 --> 00:02:42.720 align:middle line:84% Just before his body lost the struggle against sleep, 00:02:42.720 --> 00:02:45.900 align:middle line:84% he would feel his mother's mouth kissing his cheek as she 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:48.300 align:middle line:90% asked God to bless her mijo. 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:51.930 align:middle line:84% Salvador shrugged off Santana's question along with his memory. 00:02:51.930 --> 00:02:54.570 align:middle line:84% He cursed his God for truths and Santana 00:02:54.570 --> 00:02:57.150 align:middle line:90% for living up to his name, Loco. 00:02:57.150 --> 00:02:59.610 align:middle line:84% So he walked reclaiming his mission. 00:02:59.610 --> 00:03:02.070 align:middle line:84% He drew pitiful signs asking anyone 00:03:02.070 --> 00:03:04.000 align:middle line:90% if they had seen his language. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.890 align:middle line:84% His reward, a lifetime of thank you letters. 00:03:07.890 --> 00:03:09.810 align:middle line:90% He received a few replies. 00:03:09.810 --> 00:03:12.690 align:middle line:84% One of them from Reverend Clemente. 00:03:12.690 --> 00:03:15.150 align:middle line:84% He told Salvador the last time he 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:19.170 align:middle line:84% saw his language was at Luzdivina's funeral. 00:03:19.170 --> 00:03:22.890 align:middle line:84% Salvador delivered his mother's eulogy, bestowing 00:03:22.890 --> 00:03:25.590 align:middle line:84% all of her fragrances, graces, and blessings 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:27.300 align:middle line:90% on the congregation. 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:30.120 align:middle line:84% She was all he had in this fabulous world. 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:33.180 align:middle line:84% From her, he learned to cook his own rice and beans, 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:37.080 align:middle line:84% ironed the crispy shirts, and listened selectively. 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:38.310 align:middle line:90% She was wise. 00:03:38.310 --> 00:03:40.480 align:middle line:84% She knew why chickens didn't fly. 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:42.330 align:middle line:84% And no other mother on the block could 00:03:42.330 --> 00:03:44.220 align:middle line:90% match the softness of her hair. 00:03:44.220 --> 00:03:46.320 align:middle line:90% She was all for him. 00:03:46.320 --> 00:03:48.660 align:middle line:84% Salvador cried in English that day 00:03:48.660 --> 00:03:52.050 align:middle line:84% as Spanish tears drizzled his mother's casket. 00:03:52.050 --> 00:03:54.360 align:middle line:84% He thanked everyone for coming, including 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:58.080 align:middle line:84% the janitor who collected the loose petals from the floor. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:01.050 align:middle line:84% Reverend Clemente reminded Salvador 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:04.560 align:middle line:84% of the weekly Spanish mass, always on Sundays at 5:00 PM. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.390 align:middle line:84% Guido's tambourines and guitars were 00:04:06.390 --> 00:04:09.900 align:middle line:84% welcome for those I need to be saved again moments. 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:12.420 align:middle line:84% Salvador buried Reverend Clemente's letter 00:04:12.420 --> 00:04:15.210 align:middle line:84% in the freshest soil on the sunny side of the Earth 00:04:15.210 --> 00:04:19.440 align:middle line:84% with hopes that it would grow his mother back to life. 00:04:19.440 --> 00:04:22.019 align:middle line:84% Another letter came from his best friend, Cristobal. 00:04:22.019 --> 00:04:24.330 align:middle line:84% He last saw Salvador's language running out 00:04:24.330 --> 00:04:27.000 align:middle line:84% of harm's way the day they were both stopped by the police 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:29.220 align:middle line:84% at the mall who didn't believe that they 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:31.980 align:middle line:84% could afford the brand name clothing they were wearing. 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:34.620 align:middle line:84% The policeman said, even though one of their relatives 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:36.570 align:middle line:84% made the clothing for $0.05 an hour, 00:04:36.570 --> 00:04:39.570 align:middle line:84% that gave them no right to wear such things. 00:04:39.570 --> 00:04:41.790 align:middle line:84% When he asked for names, Salvador 00:04:41.790 --> 00:04:45.090 align:middle line:84% became Sal and Torres became Towers. 00:04:45.090 --> 00:04:48.480 align:middle line:84% Cristobal could not believe the perfection of Salvador's Anglo 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:49.770 align:middle line:90% accent. 00:04:49.770 --> 00:04:51.810 align:middle line:84% They were led off with a stern warning 00:04:51.810 --> 00:04:56.360 align:middle line:84% as Cristobal whistled Officer Krupke all the way home. 00:04:56.360 --> 00:04:58.130 align:middle line:84% Cristobal closed his letter asking 00:04:58.130 --> 00:04:59.690 align:middle line:90% after Salvador's whereabouts. 00:04:59.690 --> 00:05:02.940 align:middle line:84% They have not seen each other since that day. 00:05:02.940 --> 00:05:05.220 align:middle line:84% Salvador felt he felt hopeless as he 00:05:05.220 --> 00:05:06.870 align:middle line:90% looked at the piles of letters. 00:05:06.870 --> 00:05:09.240 align:middle line:84% One name stood out from the pile. 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.780 align:middle line:84% It came from Miss Paloma, his kindergarten teacher. 00:05:12.780 --> 00:05:15.360 align:middle line:84% She was gorgeous and the first woman he ever 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.660 align:middle line:90% loved aside from his mother. 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:20.990 align:middle line:84% Miss Paloma was married, a hyphen after her name. 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:25.010 align:middle line:84% She recalled the first time she saw Salvador's language. 00:05:25.010 --> 00:05:27.200 align:middle line:84% He entered her classroom with the note 00:05:27.200 --> 00:05:29.330 align:middle line:84% stapled to his brown polyester vest, 00:05:29.330 --> 00:05:32.090 align:middle line:84% listing all of his allergies to paste, crayons, 00:05:32.090 --> 00:05:35.840 align:middle line:84% toxic watercolors, finger paint, and some girls. 00:05:35.840 --> 00:05:39.620 align:middle line:84% She introduced herself with silence as his response. 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:41.360 align:middle line:84% She tried it again, but this time, 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.460 align:middle line:90% with her island grown Spanish. 00:05:43.460 --> 00:05:47.840 align:middle line:84% Salvador smiled with four missing teeth and a weak hola. 00:05:47.840 --> 00:05:50.900 align:middle line:84% That first day, Miss Paloma was the student. 00:05:50.900 --> 00:05:54.020 align:middle line:84% She learned that he was five, just arrived in the US 00:05:54.020 --> 00:05:55.790 align:middle line:84% with his mother from a tiny island 00:05:55.790 --> 00:05:57.700 align:middle line:90% off Puerto Rico called Vieques. 00:05:57.700 --> 00:06:01.610 align:middle line:84% There were too many explosions to hear the coquis at night. 00:06:01.610 --> 00:06:03.980 align:middle line:84% Salvador had forgotten about that first day, 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:06.560 align:middle line:84% the vest, the list written in his mother's 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.330 align:middle line:90% perfect handwriting. 00:06:08.330 --> 00:06:11.150 align:middle line:84% His eyes filled with images, playing street football 00:06:11.150 --> 00:06:14.210 align:middle line:84% with Cristobal, Sunday masses with tambourines, 00:06:14.210 --> 00:06:17.780 align:middle line:84% and everyone asking weekly penance for weekly sins, 00:06:17.780 --> 00:06:20.810 align:middle line:84% and his abuelita Consuela's skin so 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:23.900 align:middle line:84% wrinkled he swore he could peel it off. 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:27.530 align:middle line:84% He fell to his knees asking for forgiveness and salvation. 00:06:27.530 --> 00:06:30.590 align:middle line:84% Tears soaked his face in the land beneath him. 00:06:30.590 --> 00:06:33.500 align:middle line:84% He prayed for the reincarnation of his language. 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:35.240 align:middle line:90% He begged for its return. 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:38.060 align:middle line:84% Promised never to allow silence in exchange 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:39.650 align:middle line:90% for acceptance or denial. 00:06:39.650 --> 00:06:43.580 align:middle line:84% He swore to his god and his mother's god." 00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:44.300 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:06:44.300 --> 00:06:46.940 align:middle line:90% 00:06:46.940 --> 00:06:48.920 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much, Luivette. 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:50.990 align:middle line:90% I was so taken away by that. 00:06:50.990 --> 00:06:53.660 align:middle line:84% It's almost like a children's story, 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:57.090 align:middle line:84% but it also is relatable to adults. 00:06:57.090 --> 00:06:58.230 align:middle line:90% I love that. 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:00.370 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much.