When I Woke

A poem on remembering

chicano poetry, ancestors, Mexican culture

Photo of National City Public Library mural by David Avalos, currently residing in Sweetwater High School, National City, CA

When I woke, I remembered the bang of beating drums

I sat in a library lined with murals depicting wars long fought The history of my people erase to time, versions retold to suit our colonizers

In my dreams, I spoke to gods of war and serpents I spoke to goddesses who guard the sacred waters I spoke to spirits whose blood now flows in my corporeal body

When I woke, I kept my eyes shut to remember the dance of a people long forgotten