Island to Mainland

Island to Mainland

I was born in Pointe A Pitre
In a small clinic on a palm trees square
Near the sea in Guadeloupe
A French Caribbean island.

To me, the sky could be only blue.
The beach, only warm.
A day, only hot and humid.
The night, still shining of stars.

I rarely traveled to the other part of the island.
Driving 1 hour was like flying Paris to L.A.
We are like Parisian Vs Marseillais
But only 63 km apart.

I dreamt of living in a big city from TV
to see big buildings, take a train,
Going to cinemas and museums
See gigs in the biggest venues.

Island life is slow.
We think we don’t have so much to do.
We envy people from France.
Because they have more possibilities. A better future.
Many french people still don’t know
where to locate the french islands on a map.

Swimsuit with jeans was trendy in hight school.
I had three drawers full of bikinis.
At 18 years old, I left to the mainland France to study.
I flew with all my swimsuits in my suitcase.

I was cold already on September.
I bought my first winter jackets and boots.
Lot of socks and colorful tights.
I hated covering my skin so much.
But finally I looked like people from TV.

I was happy.

Written by me.

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