Yvonne Delgado Thomas—Poetry

First-Gen

I came to college with nothing.

In a car with holes in the floor where I could see the world rushing by

and a brown paper bag of worldly possessions.

I came with what I had inside.

I plowed through every No.

I screwed up. I failed. I fell down.

School and work – it was hard.

Living, though, came too easy

too many bars

too many men

rank places

wrong people

Until…I cried

with my cheek pressed against a cool bus window

Watching the rain meld with my tears.

My dad came when I called.

Todo saldrá bien.

Then he left.

I quit.

A one room apartment, a shared bath, a job.

Scraping. Scraping.

A new used car with a stick

And I slowly jerked my way back up.

Better grades barely budged my GPA,

but moved me intensely.

Then I fell in love

with Elizabeth Bishop’s Brazil and

Roethke’s Waltz

with beautifully scaped grammar trees

and the rare books collection

with my carrel on the 4th floor of the library

and with me

On a cold day in December, I graduated.

On my 50th, among smiles and laughter,

with my two boys

I toasted my final student loan payment.

Yvonne Delgado Thomas was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. She is a second generation Hispanic American. As an artist, Yvonne enjoys portraying both real and fictional stories based on her multicultural background and her life experiences through art, poetry and narrative. As a woman, she strives to incorporate self-expression into her daily life to add joy, help reduce stress, and to explore issues faced by women and girls. Some of her current projects include illustrating and writing a Hispanic American children’s book, painting rain barrels and creating a backdrop for a themed youth event. Yvonne is a mother of two sons who are in the military. She graduated from Kent State University with a MA in Education, and Youngstown State University with an MSE in Education Administration. Yvonne also holds a teaching, principal and superintendent license. She currently works as a Corporate and Foundation Relations Officer at Kent State University.