The Woman that Remained by Amy Roblero Perez
go back to your country
from the adjacent car
in the backseat
white teeth teens
you and I
the first time we listened to the love ballads in your tongue
you rolled the windows up
this was the first time I realized you possessed shame
I was young
still
you remained
the second
when you apologized for being my mother
a stack of mail on the table
a bittersweet stare
you laughed
perdon por no tener escuela
I was older
your words
gifted me an ache
grown in all the shades of your burns
grow in the miles between you and abuela
grow in your late night little girl cries
still you
remained
on the news, they talk about kids like me
anchor babies
you remained
but Mamá,
my love doesn’t demand your home stay a secret
my love demands no knowledge of the english language
my love doesn’t demand citizenship
You said I wasn’t a tool but a dream
Work weekends and holidays
bone breaking factories
homes and hotels
fields and flowers
swearing love on a journey worse than death
taking the food out of your mouth
to afford every trend and field trip
Mamá,
in my country,
you have always been enough
like a weed
without water or sun
you remain
speak english, this is America!
trampled and beat
still
you remain
mamá, América no tiene solo una lengua
as the aftertaste of
flour
limón
tomate
pollo
afternoon
empanadas
mija, ven a comer!
as tales
as song
as a relic
scars you obtained from your pueblo
born much too early to fall in love in space
Unfortunate enough to have been born a daughter
longing for classrooms
longing to be free of brutality
to wish upon stars
a starving childhood
you left it behind that day
rays of sun spilling
surrendering finest blushes and paints to sand
picking thorns from skin
at the outskirts of freedom at only 18
knuckles colliding with bone
the barrel of a gun
sacrificing best friend over a brother
still
you remained
no land could ever be enough
so let me be your promised
because what is this dream
if not a body or a culture that would not stay in the ground
if not a body or immigrant tongue
even if I cannibalize the word America
I’ll tear apart each
letter
ring
and bone
until we have it
life
liberty
pursuit of happiness
place your bets on me
I will be the ocean you long to sink in
I’ll take you
Paris
London
Greece
your new york city you so long to see
I will wrap you in waves of water instead of sand
I will water you
allow my heart to be your sun
I will surrender myself to be your
home
tu hija
not an anchor
so I beg you
remain here
with me.
Amy Roblero Perez is a freshman at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She plans to major in English and possibly linguistics
of psychology as well. She is a 2022 Kentucky Governor’s School for
the Arts alumnus and the 2023 Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate.