Uncle Robert Quotes in Brown Girl Dreaming
It’s hard to understand
the way my brain works— so different
from everybody around me.
How each new story
I’m told becomes a thing
that happens,
in some other way to me…!
Keep making up stories, my uncle says.
You’re lying, my mother says.
What’s wrong with you?
Have you lost your mind?
Don’t you know people get arrested
for this?
They’re just words, I whisper.
They’re not trying to hurt anybody!
Some evenings, I kneel toward Mecca with my uncle.
Maybe Mecca
is the place Leftie goes to in his mind, when
the memory of losing his arm becomes too much. Maybe Mecca is
good memories,
presents and stories and poetry and arroz con pollo
and family and friends…
Uncle Robert Quotes in Brown Girl Dreaming
It’s hard to understand
the way my brain works— so different
from everybody around me.
How each new story
I’m told becomes a thing
that happens,
in some other way to me…!
Keep making up stories, my uncle says.
You’re lying, my mother says.
What’s wrong with you?
Have you lost your mind?
Don’t you know people get arrested
for this?
They’re just words, I whisper.
They’re not trying to hurt anybody!
Some evenings, I kneel toward Mecca with my uncle.
Maybe Mecca
is the place Leftie goes to in his mind, when
the memory of losing his arm becomes too much. Maybe Mecca is
good memories,
presents and stories and poetry and arroz con pollo
and family and friends…
