Poem – MY WORDS (By Elaine Nadal)

MY WORDS – By Elaine Nadal

Inadequate fragments
embedded with
Ay, No puede ser, Sí se puede, Pura vida
lacking punctuation
misunderstood
tirelessly running on and on
syncopating along the way
Lo tengo to’ pensao
Pues a veces
sometimes spontaneous
problem-solving
compassionate
“Bendito, don’t you worry cariño.”
creative
making my own spice
an unconventional lexicon
embedded with made-up words
feel free to stick in a
, : ( )
if you’d like,
but I’ll shift it, dice it, mix it with spices
some sazón de achote, adobo, and cilantro
feel it on your tongue
doesn’t matter if you like it
I do all the grindin’
criticism crushin’
barrier mashin’
creating new puree
I have the pilón,
and you can’t borrow it or take it away

because only I can understand it.

Author Bio: Elaine Nadal

Being a Latina is fire and wind,
a hummingbird in the skies
flying backwards and upside down.
It’s a hot lava stone pressed upon one’s back,
containing words carved by tongue.
A teaching, a story, a song–
improvised and from memory,
taken from ruins to create new horizons.
(Excerpt from Elaine Nadal’s poem “Pride”)