Inheritance/Yo Fuí To Abuel
Violeta Garza
Yo fuí tu abuela I was your grandmother
pero no me dejaron disfrutarlo. but they didn’t let me relish it.
In secret,
but also
in plain sight
and with permission,
I held you
when you were
an enchanting child. I kept tabs
on you your whole life
and I longed for
more, but
I’d never get to hear you call me “mi weli.” "granma”
That’s because my love for your mother,
though immense,
was born of a young, temporary connection–
the kind that is shameful for most families,
but especially ours.
When I was forbidden
from mothering my child,
I didn’t know
I’d also
have to
reject
her children
in perpetuity.
Como me hubiera gustado How I would have loved
ser tu aliento, to be your breath,
tu alojamiento, your shelter,
tu bosque. your forest.
Pero fuí solamente But I was only
tu abuela your grandmother
y no me dejaron and they didn’t let me
disfrutarlo. relish it.
I know,
in those later years,
that you looked for me.
I know you wanted answers for
the shape of those translucent welts on your mother’s back–
an unpleasant birthmark that became your inheritance.
I could only give you hints about your lineage–
a coded message
in vague language,
the key
embedded
in our shared
blood. I hoped you’d understand.
In life I was charming and crude and majestic,
even if I couldn’t conquer all forces.
Pero quiero But I want you
que sepas to know
que te quise, that I loved you,
chiquita. Te quise chiquita. I loved you
de todo with all
corazón, de my heart, with all
todo my
corazón. heart.
I can only claim you in death,
but I can also respond now
with all the power in my spirit,
Y yo te voy a cuidar desde acá. And I will take care of you
from here.
Violeta Garza is a non-binary Latinx poet and weaver from San Antonio, TX. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Anti-Heroin Chic, Acentos Review, and The ASP Bulletin, among others. Their debut poetry chapbook Brava was a semifinalist for the 2023 Nine Syllables Press Chapbook Contest, and will be released in September 2025 by First Matter Press. You can peruse her work at violetagarza.com.
