My Name Is Romero
It happens
Every
Single
Night
Telemarketing Juliets
Calling from their ivy-covered balconies
Calling for their star-crossed lovers
Calling,
“Hello”
“Is Mr. Romeo in?”
I’m sorry
Romeo went to go grab a burrito
Mercutio to cruise Whittier Boulevard
And Shakespeare to take some ethnic studies classes
In other words…
Romeo isn’t in!
My name is Romero!
I am not Italian
Spanish blood
Coursing through these veins
Though my parents are not from Spain
And despite the Southern Californian accent
That allows words like
“Dude”
“Sweet”
And “sick”
To tumble gracefully from these lips
I’m not a white guy!
I’m a Mexican!
My name is Romero!
Romero like Archbishop Oscar Romero
Zombie filmmaker George A. Romero
Actor
Cesar Romero
Yes!
Before
Jack Nicholson
Before
Heath Ledger
A brown man
Played the Joker
They dressed him up in green wig
Purple suit
And white face
Though he would not shave
His trademark suave
And sexy
Latin mustache
No!
He was a Romero!
I am a Romero!
My parents had dark skin
And dark eyes
When I was seven
My brother lied
Told me my father
Was the mailman
“How could you be the son of our parents
With your blue eyes
And white skin?”
Well, brother
Like Jerry Springer or Maury
The DNA results are in!
I am a Romero!
And I know what some of you are thinking
That I’m just another white guy
Trying to prove he’s a Latino
Or just another Mexican
Chest-beating
Beating his chest
Beating whatever reputation he has left
Trying to convince you
That his family
His country
His nationality
Are better
Than you!
Well
I know as well as anyone
That we are all the children of Africa
Roots of no single family tree
But of a flourishing forest
That grows majestically
Towards a magnificent destiny
Shining
Radiating beauty
Just please
Close your eyes
And you can see it…
But the name of this poem isn’t,
“We are the world”
“We are the children”
No!
The name of this poem
Is “My Name Is Romero!”
Because if you’re not proud of who you are
Then what’re you gonna be proud of?
And if you don’t know where you come from
How’re you supposed to know where you’re going?
And I know one thing:
That the name of my father
And my father’s father
And his father’s father
Before him
Was Romero.
Photo credit: Gabriela Fresquez
