Skip to main content

poetry Big Mouth of Words

Hilary Cruz Mejia, a young Latinx poet from Guatemala, protests the genocidal history of her homeland, while seeking to preserve its indigenous roots.

Big Mouth of Words 

By Hilary Cruz Mejia

I am going to talk to you about pain

The day you took the plate away from my brother

The day you cut my sister’s tongue

The day I woke up without a father

The day you took away my innocence

The day you swallowed the tears that weren’t yours

I am going to talk to you about pain

because it hurts

as a woman giving birth without anesthesia

I am going to talk to you about pain

because I don’t need your hypocrisy

go swallow it

how you swallowed everything that

didn’t belong to you

the life of my brothers and sisters

I am going to talk to you about the pain

that we have been silent for years

I am going to talk to your face

without your misery, without your oblivious eyes

without your poison food

I am going to talk to you about pain

because you didn’t care about their adventurous soul

because from their sweat you showered your streets

from our hands, you continue to take our lands

tramposo*

I am going to talk to you about pain

because I am not your slave

I am not alone

We are not alone.

*cheat

If you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.

(One summary e-mail a day, you can change anytime, and Portside is always free.)

BOCA GRANDE DE PALABRAS

Te voy a hablar acerca del dolor

El día que le quitaste el plato a mi hermano

El día que le cortaste la lengua a mi hermana

El día que desperté sin mi padre

El día que me quitaste la inocencia

El día que te tragaste las lágrimas que no eran tuyas

Te voy a hablar acerca del dolor

porque duele

como mujer pariendo sin anestesia

Te voy a hablar acerca del dolor

porque no necesito tu hipocresía

trágatela

de la misma manera que te tragaste todo eso que

no te pertenece

la vida de mis hermanos y hermanas

Te voy a hablar acerca del dolor

que hemos callado por años

Te voy a hablar a la cara

sin tu miseria, sin tus ojos inconscientes

sin tu comida envenenada

Te voy a hablar acerca del dolor

porque no te importó sus almas aventureras

porque de su sudor tú regaste tus calles

de nuestras manos tomas nuestras tierras

tramposo

Te voy a hablar acerca del dolor

porque yo no soy tu esclava

No estoy sola

No estamos solxs.

Hilary Cruz Mejia, a 20-year old Latinx immigrant from Puerto de Iztapa, Guatemala, a first-generation college student and a queer poet, who sometimes is unable to find meaning in logical language, though poetry with its rhythms and alliterations has been a healing process through her transition in the U.S. She is in her second year at Skyline College, but will be transferring to SFSU in Spring 2021. She has been the president of the student Poetry Club at Skyline College since Spring 2020. In order to maintain a connection with her ancestors and to allow the soul of the newcomers to value the legacy of our ancestors, she is aspiring to become a Professor of Literature of the Americas. Hilary is currently working on her first poetry book where she encourages her readers to find the guidance of self-transcendence in their lives, and to connect with their adventurous soul.