daydreaming

i remember little   a fogged memory
                south bronx
                coming from rican     dominican roots.
                the patterson projects   john adam houses
a child into a teenager
                dates	days  places   people  
                their names have faded away
	        like the clouds i would stare at 
                through my fifth floor       window
i was that kind of kid   daydreaming all the time   wondering
	        where are those clouds going	       i want to go there.

my mother cooking	
                  the sweet smell of arroz con habichuelas	
	          y bacalao	
                  that i could buy for a dollar across the street		
la bodega	
                   the salt rough over the single slab       of fish.

in between the spanish radio station in the morning
	         there was plenty of time for america 
                 jumping up and down out of 
                 the black and white television		
                               bozo the clown 	        dead end kids
                               forties movies		james cagney 	
                               abbott and costello	bela lugosi
                               sci fi      	                        horror movies.

watching spanish tv with my mother		novellas
                my only chance to hold on to my dream 
                where everyone spoke 	spanish around me 	
                to me	from me.

it’s all faded away
	      like the clouds i would stare at 
              through my fifth floor window.

i was that kind of kid   daydreaming all the time   wondering
	        where are those clouds going	       i want to go there.

Author: Antonio Pedro Ruiz

Antonio Ruiz is an ex-junkie-alcoholic, former seminarian, one-time radio host-producer, past community organizer, continuing to be a media advocate, retired television reporter, ex-commission executive director, once a street vendor of jewelry and gloves, waitron (waiter to you), a former bartender who drank too much on the job, an ex-motorcycle courier who learned to ride a bike just for the job, ex-airport shuttle driver, former Entertainment news director-producer, the best time of my life, one-time live TV events red carpet producer-executive producer, ex-small business consultant, ex-youth media and journalism mentor, and now a college student who also has been married three times (thirds the charm), and just couldn't help living with two other women because well, that's part of my story. View all posts by Antonio Pedro Ruiz