Genoa Yanez-Alaniz
Severing Maria
In the photo she texted her excessive and carmine uterus — sits inside a sterile dish Her motherhood noduled — dead-fleshed and disposed severed limb of life once divining deity of Coatlicue — vigil of body and earth A newborn cries red-faced and gasping for that first burst of sacrifice served survival at mother’s breast — her enduring gift of sustenance Celebrated memory of gilded crown — of quinceañera princesa Curious reach for that alluring and elusive gasp of pulsing crimson honeysuckle bud and drip — piqued angel shape of sweetness Maria, spirit and embodiment of Second Woman Flower-temple of sex, beauty, and motherhood emblazoned on your chest (Xochiquetzal)
Originally published in MER vol. 20, “Mother Figures”
Genoa Yáñez-Alaniz is a mother of four, an educator, and a community organizer centering her work around advocacy for immigrants and refugees and language as resistance. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in TheJournal of Latina Critical Feminism, Cutthroat: Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century, I Sing: The Body, CloudWomen’s Quarterly Journal, and Rogue Agent.