Luivette Resto is a poet whose collection, “Unfinished Poetry” (Tia Chucha Press, 2008), swirls with playful insights about what its like to be bi-cultural in a nation that lately has been frothing with xenophobia. (You can blame Lou Dobbs, in part, for that.)

It’s beautiful writing. Here’s one of her poems, followed by a Q&A with this amazing Boricua poet.

The White Girl in Her

Because the accent does not match the skin,
all her friends think she was hatched
or fell on her head when she came off the plane.
Others say it is the white girl in her.

She is supposed to have trouble
with common American phrases,
pronounce “this” like “deece”
translate Spanish to English with ease
for the new mainlanders,
work with the underprivileged,
hate the white oppressor,
own records by Ricky Martin.

Continue reading “The “white girl” in Luivette Resto”