To celebrate National Poetry Month, Serena over at Savvy Verse & Wit has asked fellow bloggers to post a poem or write something about poetry - she has the schedule over on her site. And since I love poetry and have been posting poems off and on throughout the month, I decided to snag a date on her schedule. Here's the poem I chose to share with you all:
White Owned for Guillermo Gomez-Peña
(from chicana falsa)
by Michele Serros
Pink mama tugs at pink baby.
"Don't wander off,"
she warns.
I sympathize
like any hopeful mother to be.
"You never know,"
pink mama says,
"people today are crazy
just crazy,
...'specially the Spanish,"
"You mean people
from Spain?"
I ask.
"No,
Spanish people
...from Mexico.
They snatch white babies
drag 'em across the border
for pornography,
slave labor,
human sacrifice."
Unemployment lines are long,
rent is months overdue
outspoken counter service
means immediate
termination.
So I stay silent
wrap her dry-cleaned clothes
in airtight plastic,
watch pink mama and child walk away,
holding the knot in my stomach
and wonder if white boyfriend
will give me beige baby
everyone thinks I stole.
.
4 comments:
I just adore how this poem examines race and biracial couples. Despite the modern sensibilities of today's society, these falsehoods still persist and people are often colored by wide brushstrokes based on those perceptions of their culture, even though there are -- like in many cultures -- a few bad apples.
I like the thoughts of the worker after wrapping up the dry cleaning for the woman and her fears are so pronounced.
Thanks so much for being on the tour.
Serena, thanks for having me! And, yes! That is exactly why I love this poem - it clearly shows the ways in which racism can influence a person's fears and thoughts about the future and the present.
Pretty much sums up one of the biggest problems we have in this country right now.Thanks for sharing.
Lisa, it definitely does. Thanks :)
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