Community not Condominiums
[Inspired by the build community not condos street art in Brooklyn]
Doña María is up before the sun rises
Moon shining on her face she gets ready for the morning commute
It’s her job to feed others
Moon shining on her face ella empieza a cocinar arepas, tamales, café y chocolate
Arepas made with corn and cheese
They start to melt as soon as they touch your mouth
Tamales wrapped up in leaves
That break off at a single touch
Authentic café from the hills of Colombia
Chocolate de la Abuelita
The food is hot steaming up her small home in Queens, NY
Where she has seen her children grow into young people
Their infant pen marks on the wall and cracks on the tiles from rough play are still present
They wake up to the smell of comida caliente
“That’s not for you!” she reminds them
Packed in her food truck she makes her way down Roosevelt Avenue
Las luces all around her
Always the same routine
True Colors Gay Bar is now closed after a long night of celebration
Newspaper clippings, apartment rentals, and jobs are stapled across every wooden pole
Se solicita mesera
One bedroom apartment
Close to the train
Dishwasher needed
Hablamos Español
Hablamos Ingles
A man is selling social security cards
Abundancia Colombian Restaurant is on the right
Mamas Empanadas
There is a catholic church on the left
Venga y pare de sufrir
Need help with your taxes?
There used to be a movie theater here
Right across the street from la panaderia
Near the hospital where she gave birth, Elmhurst
She arrives at the same street corner she’s worked in for the last several years
74th street
On this corner
In her truck she has paid years of
Rent
Food
School trips
Clothes
Construction of a house abroad
Care for parents abroad
And saving for college degrees
Doña María knows these streets like her hands
Cracked and calloused
The same streets she has walked up and down with her family on hot summer nights
Ices and paletas in hand
The same pot holes
The same broken bricks
The same graffiti
These streets have not changed
El dueño de la bodega speaks to her on a first name basis as he carries the store pet
There are no strangers here
Esto es comunidad
Moon shining on her face she lights up her truck
Ready for service
The lights read, “open”
¿A cuánto los tamales?
¿Tienes más arepas?
Un café por favor sin azúcar
Yo quiero un café, dos de azúcar y un poquito de leche
Café para mi, más leche que café con una de azúcar
Solo una arepa hoy porque estoy cuidando mi figura
¡Hola Doña María como esta de bonita hoy!
¿Y sus hijos como están?
Questions comments and food orders
This is the routine
What puts food on the table
Doña María always cooks and sells just enough
Never more never less
She’s content with the little she has
It was never about wealth or riches
The sacrifices were for happiness
Sin papeles pero con sueños
Sin papeles pero con dignidad
Without papers but with dreams and dignity
The 7 train runs every minute during rush hour
Shaking the street when it passes by
Waking everyone up
It runs from 42nd street Times Square to Flushing Main Street
Purple
Bright
Illuminated and alive the train is never empty
The train is never silent
The train is always busy
The train is multilingual
From the train window
Five Pointz once smiled at us
Colorful and unique art decorated its façade
Rain and snow come into the train
Wetting riders
JFK and Laguardia airport
At Queensboro Plaza you can see the skyline
The twin towers were once visible in the distance
At 82nd street you can buy the latest fashions
Cheapest jewelry
Colorful communion dresses
And quincinera outfits
Some elotes, samosas and roti
Or devour a bistec ensebollado at Quisqueya
On 103rd you can buy tacos
Real tacos
De carinitas o al pastor
There are no taco bells here no chipotles
There used to be a movie theater here
For a cheap price you and your family could watch two films
It’s a CVS now
Helado de coco and mudanzas papi
Dozens of immigrant screenings, attorneys and organizations have come together down the 7 train
Mets-Willets point was once Shea Stadium
Asados
Parrilladas
Tortas de milanesa
¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!
Sunday soccer games
The Unisphere
The Andean Food Festival
The Colombian Festival
Men in Black
San Simon dance practice
The Queens Zoo always open but always empty where are the animals?
The Hall of Science
Rowing competitions
Family gatherings
Musica playing in the background
This is Flushing Meadows Park
Blocks of auto repair shops
Tinting, cracked glass, new lights, oil change, new paint job, affordable prices
Willets Point
Last stop last stop
Stand clear of the closing doors
Two blocks up from the last stop you can buy four dollar sushi roles
Hot pot dinners
Fried and steamed dumplings
Buy 1 get 1 free taro, coconut, apple, chocolate, mango bubble teas milk tea, and green tea
Busy mall
Chinese New Year
Dim sum
Moon festivals
Red decorations
Admiring the dragon racing up and down the streets
It’s a tradition
There are no strangers here
This is community
How will Doña MarÍa sell her tamales, arepas, café y chocolate
When the streets become businesses she cannot pronounce
Will her café con leche compete with Starbucks?
These signs of a cleaner and safer Queens erase the resiliency already here
We weren’t dirty to begin with
Will her house stand untouched during gentrification?
My childhood is splattered across the windows of houses and buildings in Queens
Woodside, Corona, Elmhurst, Roosevelt and Flushing
Home away from home
The only communities that have nurtured my growth
Where I met Mexican and Dominican food
Where I learned to play dominoes and heard Bachata playing from the neighbor’s window
Home away from home
Where I was welcomed since I was 4
Español spoken on my block I never felt alone or scared
Community not condominiums
There are no strangers here
Doña MarÍa packs up her truck
Her casita awaits
Tomorrow will be a new day
Filled with hopes that these streets will always stay the same