rebozo

by Natalia Macias

weave stories 
into my hair
dark brown rebozo
glitters red silk in the sun
my protector

carry the young 
to their destiny
weave stories into their hair
about their blood, their skin
about the things 
they will never get 
to see

cover their heads 
with the rebozo of your mother
the one she claimed 
as her second skin
help it find its way
back to the soil
where she knelt
tending to the earth

so weave
weave stories into my hair
my blood, my skin
etch it into the backs of my eyelids
let it warm me 
as the cloth of a 
thousand colors,
a thousand lives

silence envelops me
i don’t hear so much as feel 
the smooth beating of your heart 
the sun peeks through the space 
in between the weave and 
i tug at a loose thread
connecting you and me

cover my head
eyes closed
my veil
as the stories of those 
that have kept me company
in solitude
preserved by the stillness
falls to pieces at my feet in lifeless
puddles of night

within the folds of 
the cloth smuggle
pain across borders
wrap this second skin 
tight
tighter
don’t let your blood
find it’s way back into the soil

my eyes, my skin, my blood
you are not who i thought
you were
from hand woven stories 
to synthetic lies
let it be my protector 
let it be my veil
let it be mine

porque el olvido 
is a dangerous thing
so sit down beside me
and weave 
your stories into my hair

n.m.

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