Polyglot Poetry | Spanish and English

Wax

A poem dedicated to my mother. Thank you for everything.

Spanglish

Sometimes my mamá wants to shield me from the world in the same way a bird’s feathers would wrap around their baby holding them close and never letting them go.

Déjame en paz, I tell her as I wriggle my way out.

Ya soy una mujer, as I step onto the edge of the nest.

No te necesitó, as I take  my prideful leap of faith.

But we all need our Mamás even though we think and say that we don’t.

My wings of wax melt away like the vela that we keep on the altar to honor our ancestral roots.

The only one who can  catch me now  is my mamá.

But she lets  me fall flat  on my face.

Por idiota, she says.

But either way she flies down from the tallest of branches to find me in the piles of leaves down below.

English

Sometimes my mama wants to shield me from the world in the same way a bird’s feathers would wrap around their baby holding them close and never letting them go.

Leave me alone, I tell her as I wriggle my way out.

I’m a woman now, as I step onto the edge of the nest.

I don’t need you, as I take my prideful leap of faith.

But we all need our mothers even though we think and say that we don’t.

My wings of wax melt away like the candle that we keep on the altar to honor our ancestral roots.

The only one who can catch me now is my mama.

But she lets me fall flat on my face.

For being an idiot, she says.

But either way she flies down from the tallest of branches to find me in the piles of leaves down below.

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