BIO
Originally from San Juan, Tania Pabón Acosta is now a writer based in New York. She holds an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Puerto Rico, and an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has appeared in Briller Magazine, Gravel, Breadcrumbs Mag and Pigeon Pages; is forthcoming in Cosmonauts Avenue and Great River Review; and was chosen for AmpLit Fest’s Emerging Writer Showcase 2018. She is also the founder of Writers for Relief, a reading and event series born in the wake of Hurricane Maria to raise funds and awareness for Puerto Rico.
Twitter: @TaniaPabon
Instagram: @taniapa
How We Carry the Toll
On day 42 the light returned
confused and fitful.
This is how my parents remember it—
day 42.
On day 60 they found my grandfather
shovel-deep in tombs
a lizard graveyard in his front yard.
My mother remembers it rained on
for days after the hit,
Nothing is steady, nothing is rooted.
My uncle’s heart gave out on day 185.
My father broke the news,
So close to 200 days.
I heard him, bitter
at the toll in his mouth.
In Remembrance of the Puerto Rican Women Who Sacrificed their Bodies for Birth Control Trials (1955 - 1960)
For the tricked
for the hopeful
who dared imagine
sovereignty,
we clutch our wombs
and wish them ours.
i a m a m e r i c a n
(or, a general answer to the political problem of understanding puerto ricans)
i am american
mince me in rice
mire me in acre cane
ream crime in me
mace me near a camera
name me ‘rican
i remain american
i remain