- Red Road, and: Scar Tissue
Red Road
The Red RoadIs a road of making peace and forgiveness when none is givenWhere health is measured by your forgiveness and joyRed RoadIs a tough roadRed RoadIs a scared roadIt’s the walk of many but the way of oneCrackling stones,heel, ball, toe,heel, ball, toewalking, dragging, slipping …The red road of smoke and sage.no one likes to takeThe one you could do withoutThe road of walking tallstanding hard against what ails you …Typing in a trance to let go of the bad spirits that come overlike your best friend who only wants to head to a bar,smoke in the car, andwalk in like it’s all yours.Tender-hearted woman your story is mine and her and theirsRed road in a dark and starry night of lost memoriesLaughing so hard that it changes you into that star …Hmmm red road, Huuusssh, for she is sleeping on the side of the road hoping for a meal, for a drink …Red woman,Do not fear the red road comes with a fixed navigationBrown woman, on the red road following her sisterNot knowing what she looks likeAll she knows is the wail of her song.That song with a drum beat that encloses her heartBoth criminalized by a system with no faceSisters with no mother, she died at 30 frozen to death, drunk with the devil’s waterA false father who touched more than he shouldSecrets burnt into family namesThat red roadA hard stone roadRed smudgeRedBrownWomanYou and meWalking with our heads up high [End Page 183]
Scar Tissue
Freshly cut salmon skiesStretching from west to eastDriving until we eclipse the horizon all around us“look” I say “look at the sky”You think back toSkipping rocksChasing ducksLazy parksAndFlying paper cranesIn slow motion a crinkled yellow fall leaf crosses in front of the carBad luck or a sign that time is finally moving slowerYou say, “you see that”And I think yeah,But there is a knotThat cannot be untiedA chair on its sideYour walk heavier than beforeYou want lessGive moreTalk in huesAnd I can hearA sparrow singing [End Page 184]
Esparza, Araceli is from Madison, Wisconsin; her parents are migrant farm workers from Guanajuato, Mexico. She is pursuing her M.F.A. with a focus on Children’s literature at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is currently working on a diverse picture book collection that addresses challenging themes with thoughtful characters. She has published in several magazines and in Diálogo. Her work has been on display at the Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Grady Alexis Gallery in New York for the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech exhibit.