After this moment, EVERYTHING

A 1st Grader Twice Over

I can remember a time

in school when

I couldn't read.

Being a small child

having known only 

Spanish

it was all very new.

I ended up having to repeat 

first grade.

Being left behind 

while all my friends

moved on hurt so bad,

all I could do was cry.

It was hard to understand

what this meant at the time.

Being son to a pair

of illegal Mexican immigrants

what could you expect?

Fall came quick

and the cycle began anew.

It was very much the same

at first.

Was I dumb?

Would I ever understand?

Sitting there in my little chair

with either my teacher or her aide

to my right,

reader in hand

things became

crystal clear

in a way that 

changed me 

irrevocably.

It didn't dawn on me then

the true nature

of what had happened,

ever since then

I have never been the same.

This is the proof 

and the THANK YOU

I wish I could have given

at the moment

everything became 

illuminated.