Born In Puerto Rico

I was born in Puerto Rico
We came here when I was a child
Before I made to my sixteenth
I was running with the gang and we were wild.
He keeps looking but don't recognize me.
Some guy from Lexington or Park
Rrd beans and rice from kitchen windows
It's supper-time and the barrio is dark.
No one knows you like I do
No one can know your heart the way I do
No one can testify to all that you've been though
But I will.
The Vampiros
I was born in Puerto Rico
And my blood is taino
Spanish Caribbean in my soul
We came here wearing summer clothes in winter
Hearts of sunshine in the cold.
Salvador
Your family rented this apartment
You'd watch the street lamps from your perch
In the sacramental house your stepfather in black
Preached the fire of the pentecostal church.
No one knows you like I do
Nobody can know your heart the way i do
No one can testify to all that you've been through
But this will.
The Vampiros
I was born in Puerto Rico
Came here when I was a child.
Small change and sunlight, then I left these streets for good.
My days as short as they were wild.
I'm Frenchy Cordero, I'm Angel Soto
Indio Rivera, 'Baboo' Charlie Cruz
The faces blurred in every grainy photo
And fading headline of the Daily News
LOUDSPEAKER:
Judge's Voice
Wiltwych School for Criminal Children
Auburn, Brooklyn House of D.,
Dannemora, Sing-Sing, Attica,
Greenhaven
Salvador
Twenty years inside, today you're free
You cannot even read your story
The pages piling up in shame
Before the words released you, the
Guard would kill the light
The night you took The Capeman for your name.
Barrio Chorus
I was born in Puerto Rico
I was born in Puerto Rico
Yo nacir in Puerto Rico
All my heart is Puerto Rico
All my soul is Puerto Rico
Copyright © 1996 by Paul Simon and Derek Wolcott.
All rights reserved. Used by permission