H
e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s
b e r g
N
a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i
v e s E d i t i o n
NANCY MERCADO
In
My Perfect Puerto Rico
My gray mother
would be
Combing her
mother’s white hair
On their
turquoise painted porch
Under mango
trees
Among hummingbirds
My black
grandfather
In the next
rocking chair
Happily looking
on
My
four-foot-eight cousin Sonia
Would be out
back
In a wooden
shack
Washing clothes
Or running in
the garden
Tending to her
dogs
She wouldn’t
walk with a limp
Wouldn’t be
sick
She’d have
working kidneys
She’d live past
thirty
My father would
be hunting
All over this
side of the island
With his best
friend Angel Rodriguez
For reusable
items
Dumped on the
lush country side
They would be
recycling pioneers
I would have a
choice
Of which cousin
to visit
We would still
be young
And beautiful
Yolanda
Lili
Wanda
Evelyn
Ivelise
Hilly
We would still
be together
And not just old
scattered pieces
Of what we once
were
2004
[Originally
published in NHS 2008, http://www.poetspath.com/napalm/nhs08/Nancy_Mercado.htm.]