Uvalde, Just North Of La Pryor

Juan Manuel Pérez

May 28, 2022

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.

But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

City of some of my very first 

dreams and memories

City of my sibling’s birth 

and plenty of other relatives

City of most of my parents’ habits, 

haunts, and shopping activities

Oh, how I grew to learn 

your impact on my family

City of my small-time hangouts 

and cruising down Getty and Main

City of the Purple Sage Dance Hall 

and pretty, Saturday night chances 

City of my athletic exhibition 

and my college prep life

Oh, how I thrived within you, 

Oh, beautiful city of the green trees

City of some first poetic endeavors 

and part of my early writings

City of my initial 

and accidental teaching career 

City of many friends and relatives 

and now my grandson’s place of birth

Oh, how I celebrated within you 

in blissful happiness 

Now, a city of victimized darkness 

and too many innocent dead

Oh, how I weep for you in deep desperation 

and inconsolable sorrow

Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of indigenous descent and the 2019-2020 Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas, grew up as a migrant worker in the many fields of the La Pryor, Crystal City, and Uvalde area before military life and teaching, and before re-locating to the Coastal Bend Area. He has written several books of poetry including the new one, CASUAL HAIKU (2020). https://juanmperez.weebly.com/