ancient parts of you will be summoned
by some freaky nasty beat sometimes
god said hips & there we were. skinny jeans
no trae nada. our asses were built for these
songs. puro barefeet & dirty floor. que somos
puras piernas. puro back sweat y smeared
eyeliner. this is your only bible. this is the
only prayer. demos gracias a cuerpo y
canción. demos gracias a mujer y hueso.
que the beat le bendiga. today is for shaking
the dirt back into your skin. resurrect in
sweat & tongue between the teeth. return
your body to its first, buried home. summon
the dust. did you know that we were once
rivers? that first our arms were waters.
reach. beginning cities carved with rain to
shoulder blade. we were nobody’s wives.
nothing anyone could own. we were water.
nothing to obey but our own moving.
by Amaris Diaz
Amaris Diaz is a poet from San Antonio, Texas. She was a member of Austin’s 2013 Theyspeak Youth Slam team that competed at Brave New Voices. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Texas State University in San Marcos. Her poetry has been published by The Paris American, The Thing Itself Journal, and by Button Poetry on Youtube. She currently resides in Austin, Texas. She stays in awe of strong women of color around her, of her perfect & worthy queer family, of all of the living left to do.