New Birth

This body I have

endures the weight

of women’s agony

that arose a long

time ago

before my grandmother

conceived my mother

and it goes way beyond

that I have not seen

but I’ve heard powerful

stories

and no one can convince

me that I am too small

to do anything

You don’t know what kind

of pain my women went

through

the hurricane swirling inside

me comes from the

crushed dreams my women

in the past had

you’ve to swallow your

bitterness

and watch me

stand tall.

—marking my place out of buried bones.