The Other Side Of Abuela


abuela was the matriarch of the family
she had her unifying side

and softened the hard lessons
but she had her sarcastic side too

once calling my brother Val “mosca muerta”
(I’m laughing my ass off here)

when my brother Val
would outdo himself with cleverness

the cunning that would one day
make him a great artist

painting flies with his face on them
his own hands for wings

his convex brown eyes
looking every which way

painting everything at once
and pinpointing the very spot where nothing lies