at breakfast we watch people drive cars through windows / watch Cerro San Cristóbal burn / squeeze and stretch skin / the orange rips / la palma sabe a jugo / ¡dedos sucios tocando taza, mesa y cucharita! / la gente es mala says la mujer on the news, reflective orange vest, micrófono a la boca / sensacionalista / mamá and papá adoptivos / fachos / hornets / they kiss the ground at Pinochet’s portrait / they disapprove of protestors / mamá certain when there’s nothing left to take al final nos va a atacar a nosotros / a family of perpetual work / house empty on early afternoons / the house with the only pickup truck on the block / the house two blocks from la frutería local / past clusters of gente who wait on the corner for the micro / mamá leaves me oranges she can’t always afford from Walmart’s cousin, Líder / could almost fool you she was my own mother / Chile and the U.S. strangers but sisters así / I imagine mamá keeps the house clean for a Pinochet risen / mopped with candy green floor cleaner twice a week / maybe he’ll come around with a guest / Kissinger or Nixon / the first night I slept in the house / I coughed until mamá pushed into to my room / put a barcode stickered orange in my hand, said eat, niña, breathe / blame your naive naked feet / ¿te sientes mejor? / The poets have written the poetical orange as / sensual, sticky, sex, amor / but fuck it is frustrating shucking the rind / the littlest pieces won’t / pull away from the innermost skin / inside bitter or sweet depending / what time was given before it was plucked from the tree
Header photo by J. Dionne.
Madelyn Parker was born and raised in Oklahoma and holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Oklahoma City University. She has previous publications in The Red Earth Review, Petrichor and The Elevation Review.
This is my favorite of issue 22’s poetry. Being very interested in Cold War South America, this immediately caught my eye; but, I’m sure that even if I didn’t have a pre-existing fascination about the subject, I’d have been taken by these words nonetheless.