Below is a Poem from Samuel Miranda's New Collection Departures. Samuel is a a versatile visual artists, poet, and musician. Join him this Saturday March 10th 4-6 P.M. to view his paintings, constructions, and embroideries.
¿Por Qué Te Vas?
In a small house made of cement
the cane cutter’s children
became men and women
who departed, and when asked
“¿Por qué te vas?” avoided the eyes.
They packed the small suitcases
that poverty supplied the contents for.
Suited up in their best
they boarded a Pan-Am flight
waking in los Nueva Yores
to the song of sewing
and the hum of machines
that made their dance faster
than the one farms and cane fields taught them.
They sent their images back to those who stayed
standing behind pedestals that declared “Te Quiero”
or on rooftops, cityscapes behind them
that said I am more,
but did not acknowledge how little they had.
Upon receipt
the cane cutter would sit on his porch
open the air-mail envelope
and wish them back,
wanting children he could touch,
rather than the images
that reminded him of empty rooms.
In time empty rooms became an empty house
that did not mourn absence
but crumbled under the weight of vacancy.
Bio
Bio
Sami Miranda is a poet, teacher and visual artist originally from the Bronx who makes his home in Washington, DC. He is currently working on collaborative projects with musicians, poets and visual artists helping to build conversations between the art forms and the artists producing the work. He uses his craft to highlight the value of everyday people and places. His work has been heavily influenced by Puerto Rican culture and family history, as well as his interactions with the people in his city, his students, and people he encounters in his travels.
His work has been published in various journals including Poet Lore, Pilgrimage, Acentos Literary Review and Beltway: A Poetry Quarterly. His poems have also been included in anthologies such as Knocking on the Door of the White House published by Zozobra Press and Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, D.C., and his chapbook entitled Departure was published by Central Square Press in 2017
Sami has performed his poetry at the Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Museum of African American History, The Smithsonian Museum of American Art and at other venues throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
His visual work has been exhibited throughout the DC metro area, as well as in New York, Puerto Rico and Philadelphia.
