by Reyna Muñoz
My father’s hands used to shine
the shoes of grown men
who lived in Juarez
but worked in El Paso.
They would sell limones
on the puente libre
in the scorching sun
all the while wondering
what was in el otro lado.
His hands would play
canicas en la calle Cholula
outside of my abuelitas house
the only one a cotton
candy pink and,
if they were lucky,
had enough spare change
to watch a gringo movie
(doblada, of course)
or buy a milkshake
and play “Love me Do”
on the jukebox
on weekends.
Later
my father’s hands would pick
grapes in Delano then they’d bus
tables in Long Beach, his hands
placed dollars on the counter
after ordering a cheeseburger and coke
every night after work,
his favorite gringo food.
In the winter
my father’s hands worked
in East Los Angeles
night after night
making crowns
molding dentures
the man behind the dentist
hunched over
a motor’s buzz and whirr
a small lamp illuminating his hands
that look as though they are a part
of the machinery
in the dark, cold room
on Beverly boulevard.
My mamá says
one of the first things
that made her fall in love with my dad
were his hands.
Las tenía bien licitas
bien finas.
A mí me daba vergüenza que me tocara
mis manos, she tells me,
her own hands hardened
from a different kind of work.
And now
those weathered hands
that sacrificed for over 65 years
for my mamá and us six
kids, those hands
are busy planting
a tree in El Paso in March,
both are facing south
toward the border.
He looks up as the gusty winds
make it sway from side to side
almost as if unsure of where to go.
He isn’t worried,
he tells me,
he made sure the roots were firmly planted.
A first-generation college graduate, Reyna obtained her BA in English and her MA in Literature at New Mexico State University. Currently she is Associate Professor at El Paso Community College where she teaches Developmental English, Rhetoric and Composition, Research Writing and Literary Analysis, and Chicanx Literature courses. Reyna also holds board positions for the Association of Women in the Community College, and BorderSenses, a literary non-profit, and has previously served on the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center board. In her spare time, she co-hosts the Literally Literary podcast. She is a proud daughter of immigrants.