Hard to Be Me

Hard to Be Me      

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It’s hard to be the new girl

In school, on the block, at the office.

Doesn’t get any easier when we get older.

Here we are, strangers, in a tiny colonia

In a village in Jalisco, a dozen

Gringos. That one has long history here,

Others have family connections,

Some hold long-time friendships. I’m

The New Girl, the unknown element.

Someday I’ll have my “place”; I will know

Where I fit. But today, I’m new.

The hallways are confusing.

I’m not sure how to find

My classroom. On what street

Is my new house? All the cubbies

In the tall office building—am I in the right

Building?—confuse me. I feel alone

Like that big-eyed girl in third grade

Who moved to town from South Dakota.

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