Autobiografía

The world is not what I saw
From the window of my room
In the summer of seventy-eight
I saw a cloud growing
And my childhood fading away

I went from Managua to Tijuana
Looking north for hope
I arrived at the promised land
Learned another language
Started a new life
I grew up in the shadows of silence
I was an illegal with fear
Without papers and without direction

Since I was fifteen I am the foreigner
I am neither from here nor there
Among my people, I am the voice that lives far away
But I will never forget
Those beautiful sunrises of Somoto
The games on the real street
My first girlfriend
And my identity

I live marked by three stripes
Two blue and one white
Wherever I go, I carry my homeland
Alive wherever I live
I feel at home

Today I have a son and I would not want
To see him go through that experience
If one day there were no borders
I believe my story would not repeat
I grew up in the shadows of silence
I was an illegal with fear
Without papers and without direction

Since I was fifteen I am the foreigner
I am neither from here nor there
Among my people, I am the voice that lives far away
But I will never forget
Those beautiful sunrises of Somoto
The games on the real street
My first girlfriend
And my identity

Hey
How to forget the paper boat floating on the street river
Grandpa Carlos' guitar
Grandpa Camilo's cockfights
Mom Elsa's grocery store
The almond tree from Tere's place
And my uncles' songs
I will never forget

Since I was fifteen I am the foreigner
I am neither from here nor there
Among my people, I am the voice that lives far away
But I will never forget
Those beautiful sunrises of Somoto
The games on the real street
My first girlfriend
And my identity