So, What is Home?

I recently took a trip to an extremely isolated beach on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica named Punta Mona. Far from the hustle and bustle of busy,  "civilized" New York, I had time to reflect on my cultural identity and place in our giant human ecosystem. Composting toilets, no internet or phone service, hiking, sea urchin splinters, and much, much more laid down a harsh contrast to the life-style I had been living for the past four months in the U.S. This poem seemed appropriate.

Casa Uno

And tomorrow, the day I go home,

a juxtaposition will lay down

into me like two opposing sides

splitting my body in two diff-

erent colors.

Aligning the poles of a Northern New York college student

and a Central-American, Costa Rican white blonde girl

that miss of moist warmth

the climate type and of familial

warmth

soft mothers’ skin and a head on

a father’s chest. A brother whose

tactless jokes cut

others deeply but show me that there is

someone honest left in this world.