Tenement Psalms
The streets remember every whispered prayer,
sirens hum lullabies through heavy air,
Broken bottles brighten beneath Bronx blocks,
kids spin on corners, drawing lines in chalk.
Graffiti wings sketch saints on the wall,
my abuela’s pasteles smell in the hall,
Corners carry chaos courage can claim,
yet Harlem heals me when I call her name.
Skyscrapers guard what we can't see,
Dreams break the streets where hope used to be.
Dawn dances determined, defiant, deep blue,
so I rhyme survival into something true.
Love grows wild in the harshest place,
we carve forever in a fleeting space,
Each echo embraces every enduring eye,
Harlem, you teach me how not to die.
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