Heart of La Puente

Jenna Richlie
The Paw Print

So…. what are you doing today?

Monday
10 cents shy of a 50 cent town
Uncle Sam threw a crutch at my surgical operation
I live on your block.
Laughter filters through my screen door
Lonely daydreams while your friends steal the computer off my back porch
It takes me 3 minutes to turn around.
Tuesday
My arm is black and blue?
You stared at my pink high heeled shoes: crazy, crazy socks
Hello!!  I’m the Queen of Sheba, nice to meet you.  Smile
He left me here yesterday?
I can only walk 6 miles in high heel shoes…
I’m not insane; I’m the Queen of Sheba.
Wednesday
It hit you, as you walked by the alley, talking on your cell phone.
The hair dryer, I threw from the back of my car
Where I live.
Frantically searching for my sanity:
tan bottle. 2 pills before bed, 1 after breakfast
My life on the dirt, for the 5th time today.
Thursday (read slowlyyyy)
Whadda warm jacket! …you wear rit on you… so pretty!
I…! God Blezz you! …wuzz your name?
I… my toez arr black I think… because… at night iz so… cold now!
You tell me where you godd tha jacket?  …Beau-ful? Hey!
Come back ‘ere! ‘s O.K… I sleep ow here… here… I
Haf summ… whiskey… fer us.
Friday
Walk to the library.
Walk past you.
Eat.  Repeat.  Eat.  Repeat.
Why is all the food horrible here?  I need seconds.  Plates to go.
Walk to the coffee shop, walk to the library for my book.
Eat.  Repeat.  Sleep.  Repeat.
Saturday
Ya trabajé 10 horas de papa (I already worked 10 hours of potatoes)
2 más de platos antes de dormir; repite (Two more in dishes before sleeping; repeat)
8 hombres en fila para llamar a sus familias (8 men in line to call their families)
Me viste en el supermercado (You saw me in the supermarket)
Comprar chile, que pica mas.  Vale una hora de trabajo. (Buying chiles that are spicier.  They are worth an hour of work.)
A mi amigo Jesus no le gusta chile que pica, porque somos personas diferentes (My friend Jesus doesn’t like spicey chiles, because we are different people)
Sunday
What are you doing today?
See the world another way.
No matter where you are in life, there is always time and opportunity to make an effort to get to know someone who isn’t like you.  This is so important.  What is it about human beings that make us think our opinions alone are good enough?  Logically, the odds are near zero that one particular person would be right all the time.  Instead of ignorantly going about life like we are that one person, maybe we should legitimately open our ears and minds to another person’s motivations, feelings, priorities, and concerns.  This gain of perspective allows us to care more about people outside ourselves and our stereotypes, reducing tension, judgment, and conflict between different ‘groups’.  Thank heaven La Puente shelter has created an easy space for me to do that: a space where all walks of life, including the college crowd, are free to share a meal and point of view.