La Dama (“the lady”)

 
                                                            Puliendo el paso, por toda la calle real.

                                                            Polishing as she steps, all along the royal street.
 
 

Siempre esta en mi Corazon,

she says this to me.

Rolls te quiero mucho from her

tongue and I am broken.

 

I don’t know that she knows

                                    that

I am broken.

 

That mi dama was polished

before I understood what polished

meant.

 

That I was dropped and swept up

by the busted broom

of mi familia.

 

That somewhere between the swig

of a Budweiser and the turn of the

tomo todo top, I was falling.

 

Vanishing from every shelf.

The white shelf.

The Mexican shelf.

The little girl shelf.

The innocent shelf.

The shelf of sexuality,   I hadn’t mastered yet.

 

My pieces are everywhere.

A Kaleidoscope of misunderstood identity.

 

Hello, my name is not in a box.

 

Hello, my name is not chicana or guera, queer

or maricón.
 
My name is not shelved.
 
It’s in the dustpan of her hands and I’ve
been molded.
 
She whispers, te quiero mucho
and I am broken.
 
I,            am broken.
 
Hola, mi nombre es roto.
Yo soy de rota.


 
 
 

Sarah Frances Moran is a writer, editor, animal lover, videogamer, queer Latina. She thinks Chihuahuas should rule the world and prefers their company to people 90% of the time. Her chapbook Evergreen will be released this summer from Weasel Press. She is Editor/Founder of Yellow Chair Review. You may reach her at www.sarahfrancesmoran.com