Duolingo Foundations 3, Section 4: Trailblazer
Spanish goes here once I learn I promise I’m learning I’m Duolingo’s spoon-fed baby bundled burped breastfed Spanish goes here eventually when I surpass here when I shuck no sabo when I toddle home to San Antonio here where Spanish homes when I re-sculpt my tongue reinsert the right shape Abuela goes here or here I pray her prayer or here’s where my shining sentiment sits but in Spanish I’m learning that here she rises humid her spirit semi-smile says if I learn yes she’ll bless me as I impress with Spanish here the very moment I learn once I learn I’ll say more than hi hello how are you I am good I love you once I learn Spanish she and I will kick back on back porch at the home I forget here on West Huisache Ave we find words for years stumbling hot heavy lingual souvenirs once I learn Spanish I’ll press her say please repeat your love in Spanish I’ll carry her mother her tongue once I learn Spanish here’s where Spanish goes once I learn her
At Abuela’s Funeral, La Llorona Teaches Me the Right Way to Honor My Ancestors
Tears first.
Time dwindles down to sewage pipes.
Earth is a salted cantaloupe and I tongue
its pulp. La Llorona pierces purpose and value
on the sides of my cheeks. Grief:
a cockroach in the kitchen. I hesitate once before
squishing into the grout. In my rage, I count days
on my fingers and toes. No retrospection.
Push through dank pain like La Llorona’s
fingers in my face, a not-so-subtle segue
into lineage’s sore spots. La Llorona excavates me
with the stubborn acid in our dead stomachs,
or ovaries, or both. Soft demons, softer
feet. Other mothers. What’s a fine line on broken
skin? I ask for something fresh and steaming
to cry about, as if Abuela’s shell isn’t propped
up before me, stillness on satin.
La Llorona tells me to invoke without doorways.
I wheel my fortune into unfavorable letters.
Bri Gonzalez
Bri Gonzalez is a queer, Chicane writer from San Antonio, TX. Their debut hybrid collection, A Wellness Check (Game Over Books, 2024), puts prescription pads and glitter pens in the fists of Gotham’s Dark Knight. Bri received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Colorado Boulder and currently teaches at Front Range Community College. Find more of Bri @brimothee on Instagram, @bg_writing on Twitter, or at bgwriting.org.
