Lola Rosario Aponte

I’m From

Tinta regada
8 octubre de 2025

After George Ella Lyons’s poem,
Where I’m From

I’m from the coquís’ lullabies & abuela’s café con leche​
her kisses on my forehead & her constant reminders – ​
que “aquí se habla español”

I’m from a concrete jungle & fire hydrant summer splashes​
lluvias en el campo borincano​ where I learned to dance in
the rain

I’m from snow angels that spread their wings, ​
crossed an ocean & learned to thrive in a tropical climate​
even if only during short vacations​

I’m from handball court hangouts & double Dutch​
in the schoolyard — where Black & Brown girls like me​
were taught to dream big

I’m from the city that never sleeps, where subway cars​
serve as automatic alarm clocks & where a dollar​ can
still buy you a slice of pizza​

I’m from street smarts & public pools,
after school programs & the toughest spelling bees
where everyone was made to feel a winner​

I’m from Caribbean breezes & pristine beaches​
coconut water sips & succulent mangoes​
picked off the tree

I’m from El Yunque’s cascadas cristalinas &​
raging rivers carrying cuentos​ de mis
ancestros​

I’m from legacies of a twice colonized people​
seeds of Indigenous Taino & Mamá África​
blossoming in my soul

I’m from warrior women of tribes unconquered​
breaths birthed from resistance & revolution​
whose legacies live

in me

Lola Rosario Aponte, aka La Revolution is a Nuyorican spoken word poet, freelance journalist and cultural guardian.
She is the author of Daughter de Borikén (Editorial Pulpo, 2024) and lives in Loíza, Puerto Rico.