On Monday the Border Vanished

By Ayling Dominguez

Illustrated by Karla Rosas

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On Monday the border vanished 
cactus needles formed a choir
and the desert soils danced  
reached across unobstructed clay-rich horizons 
to hug itself and know its joined-again parts
once-divided
and the dry heat felt lavish
infused with release, and deliverance from centuries-old power 
imbalance 
and anguish

On Tuesday Diosito lloro tears of 
Joy 
and Jubilation 
flooded 
the 
streets 
watered the seeds that had long ago 
been planted
and juniper shrubs grew tall 
burst open 
from their branches
to form blossom pillows 
for well-rested 
and flowery imaginations 
Nopales uprooted and settled into rocking chairs, 
ready to tell stories of yonder years, 
of how they learned to carry and hold
water through dry seasons and spells 

On Wednesday a phoenix rose from the ashes 
of institutions disformed and abandoned in favor 
of more 
and of liberated hope, 
no longer tied 
to a nation’s offered up Dream
silver hairs 
and storytelling 
a new form of currency 
nenes choreographed dances 
meant to tell us 
what it means to be free 

On Thursday new memories were activated 
by gentle hearts 
no longer taken for granted 
Enchanted 
with the new world order
and the clouds came       a l i v e 
with the sound of ancestral music
and stars came out during daylight 
Time let out a sigh

On Friday children fingerpainted the new space in the sky
and     widows  fingerprinted and built bridges to cross over 
the river nigh 
one impressionable touch for every life
Lost 
Paleta mans wrote poems about what it means to be 
Found 
in this new reality 
where blessings really did grow on trees 
what is a blessing now, 
anyways? 

On Saturday the crosses lain along the border
metamorphized into wings 
and the things 
we carry very quickly 
became weightless 
No-longer illicit bodies our own personal oasis 

On Sunday Milagros served tamales.

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