¡Ban This!

¡Ban This!

disgust

lurks in corners

of your mouths when you look

at our children who you don’t want

to grow

to grow

into people

strong in their soul’s searching ~

for those truths you twist into lies

our strength

our strength

is in knowing

that we were not born yours

to do with us as you will, no

we’re free

we’re free

we, descendants

of Teotihuacán ~

of Toltecs, of Chichén Itzá,

Aztlán

Aztlán

the place you fear

we might want to reclaim ~

our ancestral home, occupied

by you

by you

who erase truths

that can not be silenced

by boxing up or burning books ~

words live

words live

we remember

them, our love, our stories ~

history, cannot be erased

not banned

not banned

because their life,

their truths and beauty beat

brightly in our yoyolo, hearts

always

always ~

we a people

of hope and of struggle

we never give up, being us

living

living.

So ban our books

put out a gag order ~

yes, they charred our codices in

fire

fire

burned our tongues mute

but never our minds ~ to

envision the future, your fall

from grace

© Odilia Galván Rodríguez

This poem appears in ¡Ban This! The BSP Anthology of Xican@ Literature 

(Broken Sword Publication LLC 2012) edited by Santino Rivera. Tlazo!