Lolita
Had you only kept silent,
how different it might have been.
You could have shrugged it off
como cosa de hombre—
a man’s thing—as you busied yourself
raising your children, cooking and cleaning
and serving carnitas to men cursing
the effrontery of the self-appointed saviors
whose cunning and hypocrisy surpassed
those of the hated Spaniards.
“We’ll make Porto Ree-co the showcase
of the Carrot Bean.”
Then proceeded to string her beaches
with glittering hotels, golden casinos,
and highly-polished industries
that gleamed in the tropic night.
It was down and out rape, Lolita.
Smoother methods with the same result.
You could have remained quiet
enduring the pain and humiliation
as our fore bearers have since Columbus
stood on our shores,
suffered your rage in silence—
dignity and honor violated.
The treachery provoked you to learn
the only language they understand;
the roar of your gun
echoed and re-echoed in their House.
“TERRORISTS!” they screamed,
forgetting that King George declared the same
of the Sons of Liberty.
Terrorists enshrined in a sacred revolution
that has prostituted its own ideals;
liberty and freedom for all
becoming empty words sung off-key
by innocents in segregated schools
and drunks in baseball parks. Your voice rings clear
above the lies—
Puerto Rico libre y soberano.
You could have remained silent.
Notes:
“Lolita” was first published in It’s Not About Dreams (Erato/Poetry, 2014). It is reprinted with permission of Kayla González Huertas.
This poem is part of the portfolio “Salima Rivera: A Chicago Rican Poet.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2024 issue.
Source: Poetry (March 2024)