Isabel Ribe
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Baldwin
Don’t ever forget
That when you close the paper
When you filter your news feed
When you unfollow that Facebook friend
After just too many disturbing news stories
When you
Close the door
On your safe,
full home
don’t forget
that you have that choice
to turn it off
to nurture
the illusion
of safety
that surrounds you
Don’t forget that
for those outside
your walls
there is nothing abstract
or removed
about what scares you
so damn much
Don’t forget
that for some people
there is no door to close
do you feel defensive yet?
do you feel guilty yet?
I am not interested
in guilt
we are all responsible
for this world
because we are all
part of it
James Baldwin said
That not everything
That is faced can
Be changed
But nothing
can be changed
until it is faced
and right now
Is the perfect time
to rub your nose in it
I want to disturb
The peace
that is held
So closely guarded
I want to mess up your comfort
I want to put a story in
front of you
and another
until you cannot
look away
I want to cancel your vacation
I want to make you late for yoga
I want to bring noise into your home
I want to move a family
Into each of your spare bedrooms
And unpack the fridge
Onto the dinner table
Because the truth is
The front lines are
inside of each of us
no one is free
And no one is safe
Until everyone
Is safe
And everyone
Is free
*
El Muro
Build that wall
So high
So glorious
Build that wall
Tremendous
Fantastic
That wall
Best wall ever
Strongest wall
Tallest wall
Most beautiful wall
Build that wall
Like an arrow
Shot from sea
To shining sea
Build that wall
Like a river
Flowing freely, easily
Over tall mountains
Through deep canyons
Cutting through
The long expanse
Of desert lands
Build it tall and strong
Build it true
Make us proud
Make sure no one
Can break it
Climb it
Tunnel underneath
Make sure no one
Could fly
Over
Make sure
Make sure
Make sure
WE
Are safe
Build that wall so high
it blocks the jaguares
The coyotes
The fox
The scorpions
The rattlesnakes
The lizards
The hawks
And javelinas
Make sure it blocks
The deer
And the doves
the hummingbirds
The owls and the
Jackrabbits
Make sure it blocks
The Tarahumara
The Yaqui
The Huicholes
The Tohono O’odham
The Dine
The Apache
The Hopi
The Mayans
The Aztecas
Make sure it
Blocks the children
And their mothers too
Build that wall so high
It blocks out the wind
That it covers the sun
And blackens the sky
Build the wall
*
El Rancho
they never wanted
to leave the rancho
nunca querían dejar
el rancho
young couple
their little daughter
woman
with the long black hair
lived her whole life
on the farm
cuidando los animales
swimming in the slow
pull of the wide river
on the rancho
donde tenían generaciones
enterados en la tierra
they trace their ancestry
the way geologists do
layers of ash
and bone
tangled
in cottonwood roots
hueso y ceniza
enredados
en las raizes
de los algodones
inextricables
inextricable
ser humano
significa
ser de la tierra
to be human
is to be of the earth
el río carga la memoria
los árboles cargan la memoria
las piedras son
nuestros ancestros
to be human is to be
of the earth
they left walking
through the night,
hot breath in crisp air
it’s a true story
one day she came
to pick up her daughter
from the little preschool
where she herself had gone
and found huddled parents
crying and screaming
staring wide eyed
masked men had been
to the school
and stolen some handfuls of
little ones
she smells the fear
as its fingers grasp her
gut and spine
but inside she finds
her child playing with blocks
she smiles
when she sees her mother
they left that same night
Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua
her city
named for the aztec warrior
murdered at the hands of cortez
murdered at the hands of the colonizer
she leaves for the land of the colonized
to gringolandia
so her child can be safe
el río carga la memoria
los árboles cargan la memoria
as piedras son
nuestros ancestros
to be human is to be
of the earth
ya que llegan al norte
they are living with
family
sleeping under the kitchen table
in a home shared by many
trying to make it work
in a place they never wanted to be
so her child can be safe
one day she sits in the waiting area
of an agency to get food
and things for the family
in the room next to where she sits
the staff of a nearby preschool
is having an active shooter
training
she doesn’t understand
the English words she overhears
from the presentation
about duck and cover
and escape routes
how the teachers
are taught to shield
their students bodies
with their own
the different dangers
of gringolandia
she sits and thinks
how she is grateful for this
moment of sanctuary
and that it won’t be long now
before the imaginary line
of the border dissolves
before the waters
and the tumbleweeds
the animales
and the people
can flow freely again
el río carga la memoria
los árboles cargan la memoria
las piedras son
nuestros ancestros
to be human is to be
of the earth
*
El llanto mestizo
Halfblood song
An Answer to the half breeds
Like me
Who have a habit of
Denying our ancestors
Of silencing our grandmothers
When being that edgy brown
Girl is in style
With the cool kids
How many half blood
Quarter blood
Brown people have I met
Denying our white sides
Shaming our mestizo
Siblings for falling in love
With white folks
Shaming our
own blood
no olvides
que si pones
tu sangre
en una sola canasta
estas caminando
vacio
Don’t forget
if you put your blood
in one basket
You are walking half empty
En este sentido
Soy huesera
I am a bone collector
In that kind of way
Gathering
Remembering
Feeling
Honoring
Acordando
Cosechando
honrando
The blood pulsing
In me that comes from
all my ancestors
Remembering my
White grandmothers
Were the first
To be colonized
The first to feel the whip
And the stake
And the forced
Forgetting
Of who we are
This body is born
Of migration
Of all colors
This body is born
Of untold numbers
Of brujas
Of bones
And blood
And cells
and stars
Isabel Ribe is a bilingual art therapist, clinical counselor, doula, poet, and artist living in Pojoaque, New Mexico. She has ten years of experience working with immigrants, homeless families, refugees and asylum seekers. Currently more than half of her therapy clients are detained in immigration detention centers. Isabel is a published poet, artist, and member of Alas de Agua art collective, which is an art collective for native, queer, and immigrant artists to foster abundance and opportunity for their art.
“El Muro” appeared previously in the 2018 issue of Santa Fe Literary Review, published by Santa Fe Community College.
