ego sum, ego sonido

ego sum, ego sonido

I feast with Arabs in the sunlight during Ramadan

I smoke weed and listen to church bells ring

I dream in color- dreams that I forget

I defend the blacks from the whites and the whites from the blacks

I declare that God is One, There is no Allah but Allah and Mohamed is his Prophet and Jesus the Messiah.

I sleep under a rosario and when I awake I curse the hour

I have crossed the Rio Grande illegally in both directions and found both sides equally inviting and equally hostile

I never felt more American than when I was in Paris

I sat on the banks of the Seine discussing life with Brazilian-American and contemplated how many must have drowned themselves, first with wine and then in the river.

I have defended the hijab to Arab women and told Muslim women they should not feel obligated to wear it.

I have accepted Jesus by denying Christ

I have gained a little something by everyplace I have visited, but I have also left a piece of myself behind

I ate carne asada in the sombra of el cerro de la silla

I drank wine in the shadow of Notre Dame

I have swam in a stone quarry in Northeastern Ohio

I have driven the early hours north on 1-35 to Dallas

I have been assualted by food in Section 8 Indian apartment

I can smell tamales and curry at the same time in my own mind

I have ridden trains illegally to go downtown and taken African taxi cab back home

I treat everyone as equal because no one is better than me, and no one is worse.