by Pilar Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the sounds of divergent languages<\/p>\n
are muffled, cased away in<\/p>\n
corn husks \u2014 stripping<\/p>\n
them away into a walmart<\/p>\n
trash can\u2014 I watch the<\/p>\n
woman in front of me<\/p>\n
(pale as can be<\/p>\n
glasses perched on her nose<\/p>\n
nearly invisible eyebrows<\/p>\n
knitted into concentration<\/p>\n
chapped lips parting as I<\/p>\n
can do nothing <\/em>but stare)<\/p>\n throw away<\/p>\n their brittle coats that<\/p>\n could be used for so<\/p>\n many other things \u2014 do<\/p>\n you not steam them \u2014 do<\/p>\n you not want to grill them \u2014 do<\/p>\n you not want to play with them like paper dolls \u2014 do<\/p>\n you not sit with your<\/p>\n abuelita and have her lecture<\/p>\n you over the wrappers of<\/p>\n the tamales?<\/p>\n (yo tampoco)<\/p>\n not anymore.<\/p>\n (despilfarrador)<\/p>\n oh, god<\/em>,<\/p>\n what a waste.<\/p>\n I watch the grandma in<\/p>\n front of me shuck her<\/p>\n casings of corn<\/p>\n straight into the<\/p>\n walmart waste bin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pilar Garc\u00eda is a current undergraduate pursuing their Bachelor’s in English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They have previously been published in Perceptions<\/em> and Hedera Helix<\/em>. When they are not writing, they spend their time drinking earl gray and enjoying their cats’ company.<\/p>\n
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