By Julio Noboa Polanco

Identity

by Julio Noboa Polanco

Let them be as flowers,

always watered, fed, guarded, admired,

but harnessed to a pot of dirt.

I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed,

clinging on cliffs, like an eagle

wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.

To have broken through the surface of stone,

to live, to feel exposed to the madness

of the vast, eternal sky.

To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea,

carrying my soul, my seed,

beyond the mountains of time or into the abyss of the bizarre.

I'd rather be unseen, and if

then shunned by everyone,

than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,

growing in clusters in the fertile valley,

where they're praised, handled, and plucked

by greedy, human hands.

I'd rather smell of musty, green stench

than of sweet, fragrant lilac.

If I could stand alone, strong and free,

I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed.

The Rose that Grew from Concrete

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

I. ON THE LINES -- Directions: Check the statements that you believe say what the author says. Sometimes the exact words are used; at other times, different words may be used. You should be able to point to one section of text that informs your response.

_____ 1. The speaker would rather be a weed than a flower.

_____ 2. The speaker is willing to be shunned by society.

_____ 3. The speaker wants to be liked at all costs.

_____ 4. The speaker refers to "greedy human hands" as a good thing.

II. BETWEEN THE LINES -- Directions: Check the statements that you feel represent the text’s implied meaning. You will have to connect text information to information in other sections of this text, other texts, or your life and world knowledge.

_____ 5. It is better to define who you are on your own terms.

_____ 6. Pretty people have the more desirable life according to the poet.

_____ 7. True strength comes from going against the crowd in order to be yourself.

_____ 8. The poet longs to be beautiful over being self-fulfilled.

_____ 9. The poet sees weeds as something that should be plucked and thrown away.

_____ 1. The speaker would rather be a weed than a flower.

_____ 2. The speaker is willing to be shunned by society.

_____ 3. The speaker wants to be liked at all costs.

_____ 4. The speaker refers to "greedy human hands" as a good thing.

_____ 5. It is better to define who you are on your own terms.

_____ 6. Pretty people have the more desirable life according to the poet.

_____ 7. True strength comes from going against the crowd in order to be yourself.

_____ 8. The poet longs to be beautiful over being self-fulfilled.

_____ 9. The poet sees weeds as something that should be plucked and thrown away.

III.BEYOND THE LINES: Directions -- Check the statements that you agree with and be ready to support your choice with ideas from the text and your own knowledge. You will need to think about the issues raised in ways that are generalized and go beyond this text to other situations in the world.

_____ 10. People should be careful when they judge others by what we accept as the norm.

_____ 11. I would rather be a flower than a weed.

_____ 12. Beauty has many different faces.

_____ 13. Most people are superficial and buy into media's idea of beauty.

_____ 14. People control others for their own pleasure.

_____ 15. All freedom has a cost.