LITANY POEM IN TRANSLATION BY: Kevin Perez
ARTIST STATEMENT: I created this poem to speak up for people who feel unheard in today’s world.
I want to shine a light on the incredible individuals who support us as college students, working tirelessly every day to provide for us. We wouldn’t have these opportunities without their sacrifices. I pray for the strength to succeed so I can honor their hard work and give back to the people who mean everything to me.
My mother was recently stopped without reason by ICE. If it wasn’t for a simple ID, I wouldn’t have seen her or known about her whereabouts. I thank God every day for protection.
ABOUT THIS POEM
Introduction by Prof. Dan Ryan
"How 'political' can we get?" my Introduction to Creative Writing students asked me last term.
I told them to turn to the poets. So we read Noor Hindi's "Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying," and M. NourbeSe Philip's Zong!, and Montana Ray's "(customs, motherfuckers)," and Patricia Lockwood's "Rape Joke," and Ross Gay's "A Small Needful Fact," and Cathy Linh Che's "Zombie Apocalypse Now: The Making Of"—all litany poems, in their way, and all unified by a feeling, my students and I decided, of moral outrage.
"Write anything," I told them. "Be as angry as you want. Just make it feel vital."
Kevin did. Kevin's litany poem is, to date, the only piece of writing that has received a standing ovation in my class. And I think that's because, like all great poets, Kevin opened our eyes.
"Politically urgent" poems, Kevin taught us, are not about rage, or despair. They're acts of love. That is why we turn to them. The only thing that gives us the strength to take on the tremendous task of setting our world to rights is our love—for our family, our community, and our country.
That is why, months and years and decades from now, I will turn to this poem. I hope you will, too.
Madrecita del cielo, míranos
Dear Mother of Heaven, look upon us
tus hijos están cansados de dormir con un ojo abierto
your children are tired of sleeping with one eye open
de brincar cuando tocan la puerta
of jumping up when the doorbell rings
como si el sonido fuera una sentencia
as if the sound were a sentence
We stand in this country
with pockets full of work
hearts full of home
still they look at us
like shadows to sweep away
Bless the families
who keep their documents folded
like fragile wings inside a kitchen drawer
Bless the ones who have none
only stories, determination
and children whose names they whisper to the moon
Señor, keep ICE far from our doors
turn their boots into dust
their flashlights into harmless stars
that cannot search our children’s
faces like criminals
Give strength to the fathers who leave at 4 a.m.
praying today isn’t the day
their children eat dinner
staring at an empty chair
Give peace to the mothers
who press rosaries between their fingers
until the beads feel warm
Let them know their worth
is not measured by papers
but by the love they carry
like a second heartbeat
And for our people
walking between borders
remind us we come from warriors
from mujeres who carried the sun in their braids
from abuelos who bent the earth
to make corn rise from it
To the next generation
our pioneers in a world of doubt
lead us in this beautiful, wicked world
keep us safe
keep us together
keep us seen
Amén
y amén otra vez
and amen again
por si la primera no alcanza
just in case the first one isn’t enough
