shequixote

[shequixote]

The Day They Cut the Pomegranate Tree

For years, I lived in awe of the pomegranate tree in the middle of the block.To six-year-old me, he was a giant—sprawling wildly,branches spilling over the neighbors’ houses with ease,oblivious to property lines or man’s deeds. In the heart of September, he thrived like a king.His canopy swayed from side to side, dancing with the wind.The rainy season kissed him at dawn.Heavy pomegranates would…

[shequixote]

Bad Hombres

To Jakelin Caal who died at the age of 7 from dehydration and shock while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody. She and her father had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum in early December of 2018. When you have nothing to lose,existence itself becomes a gamble.Our seeds on the table—we do not fold.The United Fruit Company1 and Monsanto take us for all we’ve got. When…

[shequixote]

A 3-hour nap that felt like coming out of purgatory.Spring has brought me more than flowersall that you are makes me bloom. I open my eyes,and the silence of the room is interrupted by your breathing,a day with two sunrises. I feel the coolness of untouched sheets on my legs,and that reminds me that I am awake,that all this is happeninglike a pinch that reassures you of reality. I feel a…

[shequixote]

On Drag Shows and Revelations

My “burning bush” under the purple neon lights of a dance floor,lips singing to unknown music, the gospel of night.Towering wigs, red lips, nightgowns,bedazzled nails like the claws of a sphinx.Crownless queens with iridescent halos,silver sirens, floating in space,Their femininity wafting with every strike, without resistanceone I have abandoned in a mausoleum for self-preservation. Ethereal…

[shequixote]

And now for my next trick: an ordinary day

The sun rising does not necessarily bring the morning.Am I jumping into the lake, or showing up at work?Past lives in a terrarium, I keep it in my pocketreminding me that maybe yesterday did grow some rootsand maybe I can wait a little longer to see it bloom. I see this woman at the corner of Michigan and Adamscarrying a child in her arms and a bag of candy she’s trying to sell.Sugar is not…

[shequixote]

Spanish

A universe of galaxies, dark matter, entropy.It dresses my voice in gowns of spice, birds, rivers, and flowers.My accent trips and twists, reborn with the erre, unfurling like a spring tulip.The sliding of snakes in the ese, the ce, the che swinging like children,the eñe tilting like a summer hat.Aquí se habla gol-pe-a-do. Aquí se habla español. Like the weep of violins and the howl of…

[shequixote]

Things I Have Loved and Early Memories

Iguanas and the cri cri of cicadas,sweet, palpable humidity.The clinking sounds of my abuelito peeling mangoes in the kitchena religious afternoon ritual,his love language. I never saw that man hold his woman’s hand by the time he was 95,but I saw tears in his eyes when he looked at her pictures,ceremoniously wiped her body when she had an accident,and spoke about her to anyone who would…

[shequixote]

seeking, yearning, reaching hands

[shequixote]

20.

Upon the sea of tears I shed, I will sailthe fruitless task of foreseeing the future is not my strong suit. A pair of pearls lost, forgotten, adorned my earswhere the ivy that sprouted from your lips entangled,as reason entangles,like an unquenched root, endlessIt pierces through the eternal soil of memoryI do not forget. There too was left the purpose, the certainty of returnglorious footsteps…

[shequixote]

Loss is a compromise

Loss,a chosen homeout of sheer folly. A price paidfor the memory of having had something.

[shequixote]

Sailed away Memories invade me uneven I can’t remember your touch But your voice resonates like the national anthem You left before leaving Estranged I am anchored As sunsets come and go Forever is an absurd dream Am I no longer a dreamer?

[shequixote]

Sunday morning

A lover with no expectations A swim in a current of nostalgia Outsource a heavy heart to the next day Time drips like honey Sundays are for birthing For prose and slow breaths Sunday mornings are horizontal in waves of soft blankets Of inspired dialogues Unsung songs A nest for memories Grape vines of tangled hair I too Worship the tic toc of the clock that marks the present

[shequixote]

Dear young women,

Let’s take your insecurities we can bury them,  we will grow peace lilies so beautiful…  you will forget the war you started with yourself or beautiful red roses so beautiful you won’t even notice the thorns.

[shequixote]

La crónica de una cucharita, The chronicle of a little spoon

La crónica de una cucharita, The chronicle of a little spoon

Aquí siempre es primavera debajo de tus pestañas yo me entretengo con tus ojos me enseñan las fases de la luna se escapan los minutos no me queda tiempo para el cafe y con eso me basta. _____ Here, underneath your lashes it’s always spring, I get lost in your eyes, they teach me the lunar phases I pour minutes into them I have no time left for afternoon coffee, and I want nothing else.

[shequixote]

You will be back The day all leaves have fallen from the trees by then I will be gone in pursuit of spring.

[shequixote]

"Tener" en tiempo pasado.

“Tener” en tiempo pasado.

Yo que te tenía en un pedestal. Y tu que a la primera te bajaste. 

[shequixote]

Adiós, Un poema a Mexico

Adiós, Un poema a Mexico

El dolor de dejar al mariachi  El cielo azul La cruz del sur  La madre y la tierra que al fin son lo mismo Solo el que deja su tierra sabe lo que pesa un adios. Quien fuera ave parara regresar en otoño Como las Monarca que recuerdan el camino Aquel que vio este cielo, Recuerda Aquí el recuerdo es eterno Es como la sangre Fluye  Al corazón.