The Women
Often the men would gallop on ahead, engage the enemy in battle, and then rest. By the time the women caught up, they were ready to move again, and the soldadera would simply trudge on. Losing her special "Juan" in battle, she would wait an appropriately decent period and then take on another, to prepare his favorite meal and share his bed. -Jose E. Limon
With a blade to her ear
a slit down the lobe
he branded her his.
Branded her brave.
A child, my grandmother,
sitting in her mother’s lap
would touch the soft pillow of skin
droop between the tips of fingers
separated but still
hanging on
to its anchor, it’s place.
The story went
Thomasa’s sister pulled her earring out
not the mark
of a woman who worked
for Francisco Villa.
Now our line is sinking
left to search through mud
through memories fading,
but she left us sweat, she left visions, she left blood.
Libertos
The Taínos thought the Spaniards were gods coming to protect them. The inhumane work conditions forced many to revolt, hide in the central mountains, or flee to other islands. Seeking to populate the island, the Spanish Crown granted permission for Spaniards to marry the natives, resulting in a quickly expanding interracial population. African slaves were introduced in 1513.
-Cruz-Janzen, Marta “Out of the Closet: Racial Amnesia”
His skin, grandpa’s, has the color
of coconuts. Not coco, not
chocolate, definitely not cream
or milk. Driving the narrow
roads, through Puerto Rico’s
trees, they stop. He and my brother,
he, who showed us how to chew money
with fish oiled lips. After twisting the bills
with calloused hands. The tending
of the bills, more important than
our skin.
My brother waits in the car while
grandpa goes in for rum.
To chat with old friends, while my
brother sits. Two men, skin a
shade darker than Grandpa's come out
holding diapers and a coke.
They get in their car and drive
off. Grandpa’s hands cold, face flushed
pulls the door open, sits down.
Says I can’t believe they would
show their face here, Liberti.
My brother frowns, watches grandpa's gaze linger on his own hands.
Skin made darker with the stain of the sun. He starts the cars.
Grandpa turns to him, places a hand on his shoulder, says
You will be successful, you have your grandmas Spanish blood.