NOPALERA

Nopalera le dicen.

Nopalera por India.

Nopalera por fuerte y filosa. 

El nopal existe en su frente, y cuando tus palabras intentan tumbarla recuerda que ella existe porque resiste.

El nopal sigue con retoños a través de los siglos

...y tu rechazas su belleza sencilla. 

Con su resplandor te dice a ti y al mundo: nopalera yo soy por mi país de origen, y también en mi país natal.

Nopalera yo soy.

*This poem was inspired by my great grandmother Maria, a woman who spoke Nahuatl or “Mexicano” before learning Spanish and who taught my mom that indigenous is beautiful, no matter what anyone says. Generations later, in different times and in a different country, the indigenous blood in my veins remains hers, it remains nopalera.

Tijuana

Our experience in Tijuana was brief since we only went for a day trip.  We encountered an interesting mix of people, and the stories were very captivating.  For a lot of reasons people tell horror stories about border towns.  When Miguel and I talked to people about our story they almost immediately shared theirs, some people even spoke to us in English. We all had a common thread- we were all so close yet so far from los uniteds.  

I most identified with a young couple we met in Rosarito- the woman was a mother of one and had been deported from the United States 4 years prior and now called Tijuana home.  Originally from La Paz, she relocated to be closer to her partner who was Chicano that lived in southern California.  They were doing the back and forth thing like Miguel and I.  All around Tijuana we met many people who had been deported and instead of going back to their home states they stay hopeful, que la segunda vendra pronto. 

Inspired by my Tijuana experience I wrote this poem: 

The limbo land that is Tijuana 

Los burreros con historia 

Los cholos y los santos 

Los Xoloitzcuintles con su fuerza Mexicana 

De este lado también hay sueños. Creías que solo tu podías soñar? 

La diferencia es que mis sueños no tienen barreras, ni fronteras, ni pobreza. 

Solo necesitan tiempo- muchos la llaman 'la segunda oportunidad' 
para hacer el metamorfosis y pasar a esto que le llaman realidad.  

De este lado también hay grandes sueños. 

Inspiracion: Durante mi primer viaje a esta ciudad fronteriza, Tijuana me enseño que las fronteras no son malas. Son innecesarias y arbitrarias y los malos son los que las admiran y encima de estas fallas hacen bardas para "protegerse" de los habitantes originales de este continente.