Within the helix of my ear, I wear a piece Spanish gold.  

It’s a star with a shining white stone at its core, adorned  

With a small golden chain that wraps around.  

 

I bought this in Madrid for as economic a price it could be. 

Before I boarded the planes, I knew that I wanted to bring home  

This treasure, as an eternal memento for me. 

 

I mean, I worked from morning to moonlight for this journey.  

I deserved this Atlantic gift, and I deserved to use it to reminisce. Yet when  

I look at my gold in the mirror, I remember  

 

                                     The old copy-pasted buildings that made it hard to distinguish roads,  

                        and 

                                     The many cigarette buds married to the cobblestone,  

                        and  

                                     The drunkard that somehow maintained his balance on the metro,  

                        and  

                                     The mediocre tasting jamón that’s somehow seen as a main course,

                        and  

                                     The waiters who openly showed their disdain while serving us,  

                        and  

                                     The miserable tourists that gave locals a reason to feel as such,  

                        and   

                                     The constant disorganized planning that was out of my hands,  

                        and   

                                     The underdelivering guides who kept failing us the entire time, 

                        and 

                                     The cancelled flight that left us trapped one more night,  

                        and  

                                     The racial profiling from the Spaniards that I saw with my own eyes.  

 

The white stone in the core glimmers and glistens  

Sometimes, reminding me of 

The small windows of beauty I mayhap witnessed. 

 

But the fires I see within the gold crack and taint  

The glass, reminding me of 

Everything else…