A little creative writing from the NHCC

Wondering where Mikaela is?

She's having the time of her life teaching at the National Hispanic Cultural Center with 9 teenagers and thinking about culture and place and how the two are the same. And different.

Here's a little taste of what I mean:

Peddling in Barelas

What they sell
we buy
resisting in stolen moments
of intimacy between the races.

I ride through Barelas –
bridge between
South Valley Pride
and
we-can-never-admit-we-have-history-unless-it-brings-tourists downtown –
toward home.

I pass hermanos y hermanas
smile
shy wave
to say:
hello – thank you – good day –
I’m fighting, too.

Pedaling in the sunshine
I labor to push forward
a world with
no work force
only work with.

My resistance:
to see people
to see structure
to understand

to use my body and my hands and my days
to hold back the collapsing walls
of global culture that say:
you can only buy freedom
consume and be consumed;
there is no creation
no faith
no connection beyond transaction;
and the hand that feeds you
will teach you the limit of love.

My love holds out the possibility
of dignity
integrity
culture not out of a box.

The neighborhoods I pass
hold themselves together
with woven cords.

I work with
those who would fight
for their right to stay.