Maria Luisa Arroyo (*) I. ...

Maria Luisa Arroyo (*)
I.
"Mi escuelita, mi escuelita,
yo la quiero study amor ..."
the canticle I used to sing
to the fit disposition
of "la cucaracha"
in third grade, the year
mami pull ed me
la unica
de tre varones
y seis hembras
the single one
of nine children
gone out of school to work
para limpiar las casas
de beholds ricos
whose endles floors,
to such a degree unlike
the hard-packed earth
of domestic circle distorted
my scrubbing reflection.
Las bofetadas
that welted my face