“Prieto, Prieta”
The thing inside the
thing inside the thing
inside Malinche,
mother, Cortés, father,
casta, first mestizo,
loanword for admixture,
dark one, darker than
one and lighter than
the other, espaldera,
graft, hybrid, pardo, parda,
castiza, like the heads
inside the heads inside
the heads of sculptures
of gods, men, frogs,
jaguar, serpent, mixed
one of lavish lineage.
Source: Poetry (April 2019)