My poetry response to “Temporary Latina” by Ruth Behar
I, too, question my Latina authenticity/
Though it has made me who I am today/
Raised in a middle-class, privileged Puerto Rican family/
Some may criticize me of becoming “whitened”/
A term I will never identify with/
“You have white girl hair,” they say/
But, “Are you Asian? You have small, chinky eyes,” they also say/
So who am I?
I am Latina, puertorriqueña/
Grew up filling my belly with arroz con gandules/
Celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve/
Listening to my abuelos yelling out “Merry Chrima”/
The making and passing along of pasteles and coquito/
I am as authentic as the food I eat, as the people I love/
I am never temporary, always permanent/
This Latinidad settled inside of me for eternity.
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