My America Versus their Havana

Not my country

But I don’t feel as lonely

Because in Cuba my black skin doesn’t matter

I’m not as low on a social latter

Never thought I could see time after time on this land

Black and white holding hand

What a pain to see

Small children struggling more than me

Elder men so energetic, walking along the streets so swiftly

Making me feel that they are actually younger than me

I know some poor are going to strive

For the money they don’t think I need to survive

How I love the blueness of the Atlantic Ocean and the sound of its tall, strong wave

For a swim in it I do crave

The marvelous Cuban friendship

Despite the hardship

Americans have time for friendship, but dwell in hardship

Even friendly police officers

Man, are they some talkers

The fast pace and lack of stall

Not supporting the American stereotype of the “slow native” at all

The echoing sounds throughout the morning

Funny, they actually don’t bother me

Time goes by so fast

So much to see and grasp

Had to remove my purse in the supermarket the other day, so I couldn’t steal anything at bay

But it didn’t phase me in any way

But if I was a Cuban and had to wonder

Would that make me a prisoner

Walking is the normal

Wouldn’t want anything more formal

A lot of help I receive

But could I stop their grieve

There’s so much to see

Without invading privacy

Because they invite you into their community

Getting an endless amount of facts and finding yourself having more and more inquiry

Every stray dog that your eyes have set

Feels like your own lost pet

Most activities done outside

Maybe it’s part of the Cuban pride

A supermarket on every block

That I want to take a look and stop following the clock

And they are not concerned about the time

Minor setbacks are not treated as some type of crime

Pay so little to eat

Yet still, so many hunger may defeat

People have to work very hard for their rates

Something similar to the United States

The people continuously follow the world news and are quite knowledgeable

Not like the American stereotype of the “ignorant native” at all

Another different ideal

The people are quite tranquil

A lot of smiles

Make the walks worth the while

Cuba vs. America

The countries continuing to fight since the Diaspora

One day in taking his picture a Cuban man was adamant

He wanted me to take a picture of him holding a book in his apartment window

Later I would receive that book as a present, in Spanish, “un regalo”

And although I’m American, with the picture and the book I will always be

Because I’m not consumed in how the Cuban is different from me

I believe in something similar as the Cuban revolutionary leader for the country’s liberty, Che

I believe in man, or as Che said before his assassination, “Yo creo en el hombre”