BY VALENTINA ESPAÑA ORTA
Es cara bajo
My body is a hematoma.
I want to kick up sand with my legs
like an escarabajo,
dig into the cool earth
and rest still
underground
get spent in the digging,
stop to feel
the blanket over the bruise,
tickle me silent.
My sister has been eating frutas maceradas
left in a jar inside your fridge.
Me voy a comer a mi mamá!
she said on the phone when I asked how she was doing.
You'd always bake that special fruit cake
for her to eat the whole thing in a day.
But we'd lived too many years in different countries
and your voice was the only thing I'd eat
so let me drop inside the earth,
drown out all that's become noise
and hear my body disintegrate
as I find your ash in every river
— drink all of that water.