i

como niños aprendimos
a arrancarnos la lengua
de nuestras propias bocas
y tirarlas afuera de los salones
de nuestras maestras     ellas     listas
con lenguas postizas de inglés


ii

¿qué sabían mami y papi
trabajadores desde niños
de la miseria cordial
de la linguicidia?
noches no notaron
el vacío en las cuevas
de nuestras bocas


arrancar: to yank

i

as children we learned
how to yank our own tongues
from our mouths, to throw
them outside of the classrooms
of our teachers     they     ready
with prosthetic tongues in english
 

ii

what did mami and papi
workers themselves since childhood
know about the cordial misery
of linguicide?
nights they did not remember
the emptiness in the caves 
of our mouths

Copyright © 2020 by María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado. This poem was first printed in Multiplicity Magazine, Issue 1: “Borders, Boundaries and Belonging” (Spring 2020, Special Double Issue). Used with the permission of the editors and the author.