A few words from our Tracers!!!

A Hollow Victory

Endowed with the tools that I need to impress
I shoot for number 1 I can’t settle for less
I got to be the best
Otherwise I won’t rest until the reaction that I’m after begins to manifest
I grew up a child looked down on insulted
Mocked for my accent embarrassed disgusted
Feelings of shame and rebellion erupted
My inner thoughts quickly darkened

I slaved to speak the language and lost my accent completely
Congratulations I did it but how come I’m not happy
Could it be that maybe
English wasn’t for me?
Truth is it was but not for the reasons I thought
Speaking the language opened doors for me
But it also closed a lot
Spanish was my native but I nearly forgot
Not only how to speak it but why I spoke it

Luckily I reconnected to my roots before it was too late
Once I did I finally felt great
I did the impossible but my motivation was hate

A hollow victory best describes my endeavor
But note that I will never
Prefer to be tied down and enslaved
Inside lies the spirit of the Aztecs enraged
The blood of the warriors runs ferociously through y veins
A typhoon of inspirations spreading like aids

I unleashed my potential and broke through the norm
Make damn sure you know I am perfection in its most definite form

-Ricardo Perez



Reflection
I am the disease, the death, and the destruction.
That person that does achieve his or her dream?
It is because I am the obstruction.
I taint their hearts with darkness, for I know
that the ink of a scholar truly is, worth
1000 times more, than the blood of a martyr
I lure the broken hearted girl with promises to fix her.
I quench her thirst on my poisonous elixirs
Our leaders, with open arms welcome me,
for they know power comes a certain fee.
That word? Justice? I know not its definition.
The absence of healthy alternatives on our communities?
That is no “accidental” omission.
I am the cause of all society’s ills you see
But I am only whatever YOU let me be.

-Dante Gabourel