Poetry
poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence ~ Audre Lorde
Gritos de la Vigilante
They say, ‘All Lives Matter,’ as they turn their backs on
Indigenous women who are being pulled into the shadows.
They say the overturning is about the sacredness of life, but say nothing
when Black bodies are being impaled by bullets.
‘Life starts at conception,' they lecture as
screaming mothers are being held back by the police.
They watch as children are blasted in the head by deranged AR-15s.
When the massacres are over, senators and governors
drop to their knees and kiss the barrel of the hot, blood-stained metal.
I speak out against it, claiming my autonomy.
They long to kill me.
To bind my hands behind my back while I slip on the kindling they’ve gathered.
They are skilled at ending women like this.
Their laws demand us to smoke upon the stake.
They don’t know there is already fire inside of me.
My heart burns with eternal sacred light—a testimony to the spirit that won’t die.
My ancestors scream ‘fight’ into my ears.
I must rain down on them the rage and heat of my people.
Vengeance for all the people they’ve destroyed.
I will never submit my body to their prodding.
Never will they decide the fate of my brown skin.
They say it’s ‘We the People,’ but they've never seen me as a person.
And I scream at the top of my lungs for all who are being crushed under this regime.
Swiftly— I strike with the sharpness of my pen
to combat this darkness closing in on us.
Recuperación
Do keep in mind,
you will never get to speak about
what you burned into me.
Like a spell, when you
cry out my name,
It will scorch your tongue.
and I will hear it.
I made it painfully clear
that I no longer wanted
to let you invade my skin.
The darkness you left inside me,
whispers softly in my head,
begging me to answer your call.
I will never wander so willingly
into your poisoned traps again.
And I vow never to let your eyes
fall on my face.
Remember when you breathe,
it’s because it’s my air you stole.
Yet, notice after everything you’ve done,
how effortlessly I move.
As if,
you were never there.
Slip back and hide into that
night when you tried to ruin me.
The shame will never hold me back.
And forever you will
only get silence from me.
La Veo
Was it a hallucination,
or did a god really call my name?
From the deep night
I was awoken by the roar of Coatlicue.
Her glowing yellow eyes burrowed
into my mine, igniting my mind.
The brown scales of her serpentine heads
glistened, slithering through
my quiet thoughts.
My fear made my head turn from her,
afraid of possible sacrifices asked of me.
She drew closer,
muttering in a language my mouth was meant to taste.
What warnings were whispered into my mortal ears?
What teachings did I miss?
Still, she is calling, and I don’t know how to answer.
For now, I light candles
and speak to shadows, hoping it is her.
I need this more now than I ever have.
I am lost in the blur between this world
and theirs.
Hungry to know everything
that was once lost.