Something New

They told me I was not supposed to

speak Spanish to my teachers--

then what are they teaching me

that I need to learn?

Where's the broken spears of my

heritage's fallen heroes?

I wanted to hear about Cortez at fifteen

but fifteen different histories

gave me a Trojan horses' story,

Cortez took a back seat until I was thirty.

You're telling me Achilles's armor

was contested just as much

as the respect that stupid tyrant Cortez

demanded from my Aztec heroes as he

was stealing all their gold?

I use Ajax to was my dishes

and Ody-si or Ody-no, its the journey that counts to me--

You can't trick me Hera--you dumb bitch blaming

the innocent women of your husband's treachery

like the killing of Aztec princesses at the hands

of cruel white men, who demanded respect

from people they never took a chance to understand--

my compadres--how much respect did you earn

from me?--none pendejo.

I don't know what history is true

but what seems right to me as a person

is that people were used to hide the truth

and are okay with hiding it,

so, my brilliant teacher, teach me something new.