Cicatriz Chicana

This is the scar
right here
on her belly

where they cut
her ovaries out,
no more brown children

to run around
the apartment building,
grow up to join

the barrio gangs,
get shot,
get knifed, get beat up,

not just by punks
but by society
in general.

Every once
in awhile---
an exception,

this barrio boy
or girl
grows up to write,

to battle words
just like you she says
as she pulls the jeans over her scar.