Re-Membering

"“Re-Membering” is a persona poem in which Perez reconstructs the narrative of the Aztec moon deity, Coyolxauhqui, (daughter of Coatlicue the earth goddess) enabling her to speak for herself and tell the story of how her brothers brutally dismembered her. The poem was inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa’s posthumous dissertation, Light in the Dark=Luz En Lo Oscuro: Rewriting Identity, Sprirituality, Reality. Duke University Press, 2015." -Infrarealistas

“Re-Membering” published at infrarrealistas.org

Re-Membering

—For Coyolxauhqui

I am a broken

fragment            lost to the stars  of a universe       I did not want

to be a         part of  My torso carved                  perpetually below

my head and my head  is not mine           as it floats                  between my legs

plucked out of my body     I have lost   my feathers too       I am without

connection                      I am without             my heart    bleeding into my own open

mouth      My hand grasps space      lifetimes away from my shoulder blade

I am unable            to re       member           myself    to stitch my

skin back        together    and I    slowly     forget my own

name I only      re  member a ringing

in my ears and   golden       eyes staring My name    means

I am so close to losing myself and still  I tether to earth my mother