Cell Division

I prayed today,

inside the small stall of the school bathroom

my face warmed under skylight above,

and when I opened my eyes I saw a caterpillar on the floor.

I haven’t rested or cried in months and

I have been having intense cell division daydreams.

I imagine them rapidly dividing under a microscope. 

Interphase

My people were denied their humanity.

Prophase

I was a seed in the nurturing soil of my mother’s womb.

No

I was born a parasite.

Metaphase

When I was little, I stole a rose from someone's garden and gave it to my mother. 

The thorns cut through my thin, soft, skin.

It was the first time I saw myself bleed. 

flesh 

blood 

screams

Anaphase 

That night I wondered if the blood of my ancestors was still inside me.

Telophase

Years later, I pulled a cactus from the desert of my ancestors and gave it to my mother. 

She spent hours with tweezers

pulling away the splinters from my fragile fingers.

I think that’s what love is. 

Cytokinesis

I won’t let them hurt us anymore. 

No

I am only an echo of what came before.