Poems by Jesus Serrano

Poems by Jesus Serrano

PAIN AND SUFFERING: MY LIFE STORY

When I came from Puerto Rico to the United States, my plane landed in New York and in Brooklyn I stayed. Three months passed me by and I had to keep to the street, not knowing where I was or where I was going to live. Doing the time on the street, I found an empty place where I got in and laid my head. The days were passing by and I had no place to stay, not being able to find a job because I did not know the place. Across the street from the empty building I was in was a Dominican bar. I started to go there because I did not have a place to hang. I began to look for a job. In desperation, I began to steal because I could not get a job and had no food to eat while looking. I got arrested and ended up in The Rock. The Island of Rock where I spent some time. At that time, I did not know the language. I was abused, because the officer was hitting me and I didn’t know what to do. I was only 18. I spent 18 months there. And I suffered all that time after my plane landed in New York.

THE BEAUTY OF MY LIFE

Living in Puerto Rico was a beautiful thing. But going to school was shameful because I felt less than. I’m saying this because I did not have anything—I was very poor and others said things about that. I went through school and graduated. But I carried the shame—the shame of having nothing— the thing that was hurting me. The shame of my family hurt. Everything I remember when I look back at my life at an early age: I was a Boy Scout and I began to learn that I can be like others, no matter if I feel ashamed. Shame gave me the reason to try to be someone people respect. I entered the police auxiliary to look a little better and not feel so much shame. When I was in high school, I was learning more than the people who were making me feel shame. I thank God for giving me freedom. And now I understand that no matter what anybody says, I don’t have to feel ashamed.

Poems by Jesus Serrano

JAIL TIMES

I remember the first time I got locked up in Rikers Island, one of the jails in New York. I was only here six months when I got locked up because of the things I did. I remember the abuse I experienced because I did not know Ingles. Everything that happened made me understand that the criminal thing I did was not meant to be. While I was in the dormitory, there was a racism fight between Blacks and Puerto Ricans—and I was caught in between. I still did not know the language and I decided to learn. I began to ask questions about the words I did not understand. Soon, I began working for a dollar a day. I got paid and I saved all the money to go back to where I came from. Juana Diaz is the city in Puerto Rico where I was born and where I went back, only to get into trouble because of the bad habits I had learned. Today, I keep on learning that when I make mistakes I have to correct them so I don’t get locked up again. Jail, Jail, Jails… Where most of my life I spend

THE STREETS OF NEW YORK

I remember the times that I spent by myself, lonely and heartbroken, in the streets of New York. Things happened to me—nothing was the same in the streets of Brooklyn where I ended up. Morning, nights, and noon is what I remember—that I had to steal and ask for change to be able to eat. That is what I learned on the street. Not only bad things have happened to me, but every time I think about it, I refresh my memories to keep me in touch with what I learned on the streets. I was 19 years old when pain and suffering began. And I get a lot of stress when I think about the things that could have brought my death. Today, no matter what, I don’t do those things. Because there is only one life and I want to live today. My life has not been so beautiful, but now I understand that everything happens for a reason and I don’t need any more pain. Everything happened to me when I was in jail…years I spent…and I confronted the pain when I begin to cry and learn of a new way. This is part of my life story, of the things I have learned. My life has been a miracle because I should have been dead, but I learned a lot on the streets of New York.