BIO
Spencer X. Rico is a Chicanx poet and undergraduate studying English and Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis. Rico has served as an editor for Open Ceilings Magazine, and a cast member of the UC Davis EOP “How We Rose” poetry series about first generation student experiences and storytelling. Rico is also in the UC Davis Creative Writing Honors Program. Rico’s work has been featured in Columbia University’s Latino Heritage Month Magazine, Open Ceilings Magazine, Protest Through Poetry, and elsewhere.
Instagram: @spencerxrico
Kinetic Energy
When my
father was young,
He chewed on
and cleared rows of caña
Hasta fue al
norte,
Trabajando
como un campesino de la urbana,
Stooped over
engine bays and picking nuts
From studs
like berries from stems,
With energy
from food de la granja,
My
grandfather was a Bracero
In Tejas, my
uncle was a Bracero
And traveled
back and forth with him
Until they
found jobs in the East Bay
Driving
trucks, working mops, working
Weight,
Working
Towards the seventh day
Where the
elotero poured agua fresca
And the
children sucked on paletas
In the open
breath of the church courtyard,
To wait
their turn to wake up
At 4am and
go to work.
Energy
dribbling
Down like
the sun over the leaves,
Like food
over a baby’s lips,
Energy
stooped on brown necks,
Energy
stooped over dreams, mobilized
By
sequencing bodies:
A corpse,
a field, an
engine bay, a poem,
A corpse.