EUGENE CALDERÓN
New York, 1957
All that segregated unfairness
when I was a Tuskegee Airman
back in the war years
definitely
left its mark.
Instead of going back
to my East Harlem gang,
I went to college
and then graduate school,
and now I’ve returned
to my old turf
as a police officer,
recruiting other puertorriqueños
to defend the neighborhood—
el barrio—from violence.
Next, I plan to join
the Department of Education,
where I’ll be an official,
recruiting Latino teachers
so that children will have a chance
to survive
and enjoy
an educated
future.
Maybe I’ll even organize
a museo del barrio—our own
unique museum
for teaching history
through art!