“In My Own Underwater World,” by Frida Santos
May 2, 2016
In My Own Underwater World
Sometimes I feel like a fish in a tank
in the jungle – out of place,
silent while everyone is roaring, squawking
respected in their hidden languages
and I just sit there
in my own underwater world
I feel ignored,
these animals drink my world
while I breathe it
as soon as I get it, they take it away
One day they will notice me with a whole
new respect, but I am still
waiting
here in my underwater world.
Frida Santos wrote this poem while a student at Broadview Thomson K-8 School, with WITS Writer-in-Residence Daemond Arrindell. She opened for the sold-out SAL Poetry Series event with Copper Canyon Press, Pablo Neruda’s Lost Poems: A Book Launch Featuring Forrest Gander and Friends. Performed at McCaw Hall on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.