FIELD TRIP

Listening to classic music

on a ninety cents radio

inside a bouncing bus,

I lost sense of time.

Time travels fast.

We are passing right through the heart of Hollywood,

this glamorous place

is not a fantasy land.

It is cold and noisy,

a ghetto of weird

and eccentric people

wandering the streets

searching for fame

as I do

for inspiration.

The streets are filthy,

the bus bounces back and forth,

the tires are tortured by the many holes,

there is nothing classic about this place.

I notice because now

the traffic is slowing down

and my mind is taking mental notes.

This is a trip for my art class,

a rare opportunity to do something different

apart from the routine

I am with my class,

but somehow

I feel alone.

The weird thing about today

is that my heart is split in two.

One side wants to cry,

and the other is jumping of joy.

Perhaps you wonder why, Ms. Rae.

My cousin lost his soul mate

his beautiful wife

He is so hurt. I am too

He is like a brother,

my own blood.

There is nothing to ease the pain at all,

She is resting in peace,

and I try to smile

to be with the group

Instead, I have to pretend that everything is fine.

Not everything is bad.

Life as they say must go “on.”

Inside the art buildings

the other side of my heart feels alive

joyful, and my entire body feels the chills

the feeling I get when I am in a church.

I couldn’t imagine for a moment

the expression on my face when I came inside a room

full of Latin American Art

at that precise moment

when the unexpected happened.

An art piece so large

jumped in front of me

so powerful and captivating,

She was telling me

“Look at me, here I am

to give you peace of mind”

I could hardly hold my breath

and I didn’t know what to do

smile or cry

or both.