She practices in the mirror before
She has to tell them. But what to wear?
And which tongue to tell them in?
One will curse, scream, run
Upstairs, refuse to come down.
The other will just slowly tsk
Shaking his head in shame and silence,
Silence crawling on top of itself
And making more of itself in still more silence.
With disgust saying, “This is sin, you know.
And to shame us like this: ¡la vergüenza!”
Then the mother, who’d run out as though she’d tasted fire
But still wanted to be in the middle of things, booms:
“¡LavergüenzaHijasuciaLavergüenzaLavergüenzaAimíAiai AyúdenosVirgen!”
Trapped in two dimensions, naked in the mirror
She decided finally to wear white. It’s the burden
Of our generations to repeat injury
At times even before injury occurs.
Sin bares las vergüenzas.
And perhaps she will tell them
She loves him
Though she practiced saying to the mirror
That she loves herself
Without shame.