A Tongue in the Mouth of the Dying by Laurie Ann Guerrero

Author:Laurie Ann Guerrero [Guerrero, Laurie Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: POE000000 Poetry / General
ISBN: 9780268080730
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Published: 2014-07-17T00:00:00+00:00

STRAY CAT

She was fat. Round as the moon,

just as gray. She didn’t have time

for hiding, for safety, for hissing away

onlookers. Her legs jerked and out rolled

the little slick and wormy bundles. Two.

She circled them, inspected the mousy

ears, licked the furless pink skin.

They made no noise. Their tiny hearts rippled,

though softly. She ate one.

Then, she ate the other.

HOW I PUT MYSELF THROUGH SCHOOL

She has the refrigerator shelf labeled: organic meats, caviar

—the woman whose house I clean.

The wine rack, too, for the Chilean, Australian, French

chardonnays, sauvignons—so I’ll know.

I sort her cupboards, her junk drawers: nail clippings, receipts,

catalogues, while her daughters, the underweight darlings,

stare as I reshelve their dolls and brand-new books. Stare

as their mother stares. Stare as I pour the ajo y cebolla

of my blood into a pot of rice that will end up in the trash

because of its spice. Stare as I shake the wrinkles out

of faded cotton panties and boxer shorts—the lingering heat

of the dryer taking me to a bedroom I never wanted to be in.

Sweat beading at the bridge of my nose, I accept the clothes

she collects in trash bags for my daughters, who are younger

but much bigger, knowing they will never fit, and wonder

how many times I’ll have to slice the tongue out of my mouth,

chop my hands at the wrist, hear my babies ask,

Why do we take their used things, mama?

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