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Free Entry 2, Week 2

How Do You Sound In Spanish?

I’m not afraid to date you now,
to walk into your home and court you,
right in front of your father,
now that I’ve completed a year and a half of Spanish.
I am Intermediate 2002.
I can handle the peppers your father puts in lunch
to see if he can burn me away and sweat me out.
I did less than half of what I knew to do with you,
a full Mexican with hands so small,
they reminded me of Ritz crackers.
I miss the quiet of your home,
not full of home speak that I can’t translate aside from verbs,
but peaceful and only full of soft Chihuahua sounds,
the click of cardboard puzzle pieces,
and the opening and closing of an unseen screen door.
I wonder if you were my Cisneros, my loose woman
that I knew not to kiss, only hug,
to prevent bitter writings about me.

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