Xiomarra Milann
2 Poems
time travel:
Sometimes I take the wrong turn
A veces visitó lugares de mi pasado
And end up driving down the street
Cuando he olvidado cómo reconocerme
That takes me right passed my middle school,
Para que pueda encontrar pedazos de mí en el camino
The sidewalks my friends and I used to cruise on,
llenando todas mis nuevas brechas
the neighborhood that raised us
en nuestro barrio, no me borro
I find it strange
Porque todavía está lleno de mí, de nosotros, de amor
How I now know nothing of these people
Y agradezco a todas las personas que me construyeron
Where they are
Que se dieron a sí mismos para llenar lo que me faltaba
Who they’ve become
Todavía recuerdo
But I can still remember the routes
Siempre lo haré
That took each one of them home
hocicona:
Big mouth/ fat swollen lip/ deserves a crown/ blood, sacrifice, and tears/ she is a queen
3 years wanting lip fillers/ But/ mijita, your lips are so beautiful
mijita/mijita/mijita/
¿cuando sere mujer?
beautiful/ has never been enough for me
/will never be
in my dreams/ my lips/ big/
big enough to devour/
to kiss everyone i love/
I want to take up space/
/need
what am i?/ all mouth/ no substance
“talks too much”/ my report cards
“laughs too loud”/ my presence at bars
“Calladita te ves mas bonita”
“Ya, Xiomarra. Callense por favooooor”
niña pequeña/con tanto ruido
noise/ noise/ noise
my mouth/
coming from my mouth
my mouth/ purpose/ perpetual receiving end/
dress it/ prep it/
it waits to be something/ more
/mean
“The tongue is the only tool
that grows sharper with
each use.”
my mouth/ a weapon
picking mass destruction/ between my teeth
wordy/ mouth-running/ quick-witted/ survival
my demise is quiet/
what am i/ if not/ a big/ fucking/ mouth
?
Bio
Xiomarra Milann is a Chicana writer based in Laredo, TX who is trying really hard to make the person who said "those who can't do, teach" turn in their grave. In her free time, she is the host of the “ButUmmYeah” podcast and painter of fruits on ceramic coasters. She was a finalist in the 2023 Battle on the Border Poetry Slam and hopes in her next life she'll be born as something with wings. You can find her @xiomilann on Instagram and read her work in DVINO Magazine, Sam Fiftyfour Literary, Medium, Infrarrealista Review, Ink & Marrow Lit, The Acentos Review and on her 6th grade creative writing teacher's bulletin board. Her work is forthcoming in The Sybil Journal.