Where Are You From?

Katie once posted a status on Facebook:

"How do you make a military kid cry?   ask them where they're from"
I am left speechless at that question myself.   Usually I just say I'm Mexican

Where Are You From? 

by Gina Valdés

Soy de aquí      (I am from here) 
y soy de allá     (and I am from there)
from here
and from there
born in L.A.
del otro lado    (from the other side)
y de éste         (and from this)
crecí en L.A.    (I grew up in LA)
y en Ensenada   (and in Ensenada)
my mouth
still tastes
of naranjas   (oranges) 
con chile      (and chilies)
soy del sur    (I am from the south)
y del norte    (and from the north)
crecí zurda    (I grew up left-handed/clumsy)
y norteada    (and pointed northward)
cruzando fron     (crossing bor-
teras crossing     (ders)
San Andreas
Tartamuda        (stuttering)
Y mareada        (and dizzy)
where you from?
soy de aquí      (I am from here)
y soy de allá    (and I am from there)
I didn’t build
this border
that halts me
the word fron    (bor-
tera splits          der)
on my tongue