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  • Conqueror, and: Her Words
  • Sylvia Riojas Vaughn (bio)

Conqueror

In Laredo the radio blares if the rain comes they run and hide their heads. But when thunder rumbles we race to the parched yard only to miss drops spattering the dust. All night in front of a whirring fan, Tía and I suck ice cubes, anoint mosquito bites with garlic until our skin smells like supper. This dawn, Tía’s face is a mask of flour, sweat. She pulls a lemony disc from the oven, no, she lassos the sun! The eagle arrives. His wing beats pulse against our thighs as we fly south. Outside a great city, raindrops bounce off our whirling braids. [End Page 185]

Her Words

I spoon rice

into her mouth.

I ask what

I should do.

Her malady renders

her words

a vapor,

hushed flurries.

But she makes her point—

spoon against a pot,

palms patting out a tortilla.

Her tap reminds me

the beans are getting cold. [End Page 186]

Sylvia Riojas Vaughn
United States
Sylvia Riojas Vaughn

Riojas Vaughn, Sylvia. Her work was included in San Antonio’s “VIA Metropolitan Transit Poetry on the Move” celebrating National Poetry Month, in April 2013. She was selected as a Houston Poetry Fest Juried Poet in 2011 and 2012. She was a presenter at the Eastfield College Literary & Fine Arts Festival. Her poems have appeared in Texas Poetry Calendar; Red River Review; Poetry at Round Top; and Elegant Rage: A Poetic Tribute to Woody Guthrie. She has been nominated for a Pushcart and a Best of the Net award. Her play, La Tamalada, was produced in Fort Worth. She belongs to the Dallas Poets Community.

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