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Clap When You Land QUOTES

Clap When You Land QUOTES

1 " But one thing I learned from the Saints,
when the crossroads are open t you, you must decide a path.
I will not stand still while the world makes my choices. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

2 " A queen
offers her hand to be kissed,
& can form it into a fist
while smiling the whole damn time. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

3 " Where Papi is always thinking
of how to save another dollar,

I'm dreaming up a Sephora wish list
to request for my next birthday.

Mami stands in front of a stove for hours,
& I would burn an untoasted sandwich.

I am theirs. You can see them on me.
But I am also all mine, mostly. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

4 " But sancocho is a daylong dish to make.
It has many steps; it's making a pact with time
that you will be patient & the outcome will be delicious.

It is browning & boiling. Blending & straining.
It is meat & root vegetables. Herbs & salt.
It is hearty & made from the earth & heart. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

5 " But me, I know a man can have many faces & speak out of
both sides of his mouth; I know a man can make decisions

based on the flip of a coin;
a man can be real good at long division,
give away piece after piece after piece of himself. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

6 " In a situation like this, how would anyone know so easily right from wrong when it seems we are all pivoting left, spinning in circles. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

7 " The first time Dre touched me

without our clothes on, she kept running her hand
from waist to hip. & I wanted to write Mami

a thank-you text, for giving my body a spot
that was made to nest Dre's hand. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

8 " Papi taught me every piece
has its own space.

Papi taught me every piece
moves in its own way.

Papi taught me every piece
has its own purpose.

The squares do not overlap.
& neither do the pieces.

The only time two pieces
stand in the same square

is the second before one
is being taken & replaced. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

9 " What I wanted. What I wanted.
For so long. How bittersweet
a realized dream can be flavored. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

10 " Papi was embalmed in sea salt,
like an ancient insect caught in honey,

unmoving, from a different time. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

11 " I cannot fold any of their respects into my dress's pockets.

I cannot tie these respects together into a bouquet
to lay at my father's headstone.

Their respects are quick-footed
& I am sludging through this hardened mud of loss. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

12 " Papi learned to swim in water that wanted to kill him.
That ocean can't be so different; shouldn't be any different.
If any man could take a hard dive & come up breathing,

it should be one who had practiced for just that his entire life. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

13 " Papi will have two funerals.
Papi will have two ceremonies.

Papi will be mourned in two countries.
Papi will be said goodbye to here and there.

Papi had two lives.
Papi has two daughters.

Papi was a man split in two,
playing a game against himself.

But the problem with that
is that in order to win, you also have to lose. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

14 " This whole time she's swallowed her words like bitter pills
not realizing they were slow-drip poison. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

15 " Does anyone ever
want to leave their home?
The fresh fruit that drops from their backyard?

The neighbors who wiped their snot?
Does anyone ever
want to believe they won't come back?

To the dog that sniffs their heel,
to the bed that holds the echo of their body?
Is there relief in pretending it is temporary,

that one day it will be safe? That I will once again
wave to the kind school bus driver;
that I'll hold Carline's baby before he grows,

having never known me? They have no palm
trees in New York City, no leaves to shade me,
to brush against my cheeks like my mother's hands.

There is no one over there, alive or buried,
who held me as a child, who cradled me close,
who fed me from their table, who wiped my knees when

I fell & scraped them. Here, despite the bad & ugly,
is my home. & now I wish that I could stay. Does anyone ever
want to leave the place they love? "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

16 " I have my fingerprints all over you.
& I don't need the world to see them

to know that they're there. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

17 " If you asked me what I was,

& you meant in terms of culture,
I’d say Dominican.

No hesitation,
no question about it.

Can you be from a place
you have never been?

You can find the island stamped all over me,
but what would the island find if I was there?

Can you claim a home that does not know you,
much less claim you as its own? "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

18 " ...those are the boys I switch my hips at.

Not because they're cute or interesting---
they're often obnoxious & only want a taste
of my gutter-slick tongue & brownness;

they act as if they could elevate my life with a
taste of their powder-milk-tinged pomp.
No, I date those boys because they are safe.

They can't dance bachata or sing Juan Luis Guerra,
can't recite Salomé Ureńa or even name the forefathers;
they wrap their flag around their shoulders like a safety blanket,

& if a heart has topography,
I know none of those boys know the coordinates
to navigate & survive mine's rough terrain.

In other words, these boys would be no distraction. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

19 " Deadly and graceful, poised and ruthless. Quiet and cunning. A queen offers her hand to be kissed, and can form it into a fist while smiling the whole damn time. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land

20 " deadyly and graceful, poised and ruthless. Quiet adn cunning. A queen offers her hand to be kissed, and can form it into a fist while smiling the whole damn time. "

― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land