|
MARKED GIRL ©Debora Barrera Pontillo (1998)
in the ghetto of their minds she exists
image of full lips, red
nails polished reflect sky and escape
the acidity of reality contemplates aborted possibility
she stumbles into their world, no tolls to pay, and no directions home
through brown eyes, she sees her brown world; 19th street, 22nd, loomis, wallace - el barrio
she nursed at its breast, tied forever to its belly
mother, mother, madre, no puedo ver la luz
night, moon daring illumination
ruptured surface, asphalt and blood
inner ear can not escape
barrio beat
la llorona roams narrow alleys, sleeps in abandoned cars
brought here on the backs of migration
left to her own wailing, she sings the song of my birth
accompanied by a man, who on the third day rose
clutching memory with a six string guitar minus three
it is in the rupturing of moment that i was born
claimed by the streets before my first breath
mortar, straw, blood and clay construct destiny
long before you came over me and forgot
she, no i search darkness
of skin, of memory, of history
wrap it across today, the umbilical can not be severed
ties her to the facts of her life
marks her ghetto
ghetto hair, ghetto feet, ghetto walk, ghetto laugh, ghetto talk, ain't it, ghetto tears
loss of dreams, ghetto reality
teaches me that death is more constant than life
marked girl marked pobracita never want you they will never
|