Dariana Guerrero
Nana is no Higüey,
Grampy no bottle of Brugal
but the shores of the Atlantic
made tough my bones
surviving winter
torrents, the stray icicle forming
on the nape of my neck
winter sun starves the body
makes alchemy of time
a small lamp, memorializing
hours lost in the solstice
love the family created,
each of us a mixture of salt
water brine and coconut milk
the memory of strained limbs
in the sweat of summer
picking mangoes, winter unimaginable
I wander beaches in search
of life under seaweed
toes grappling onto the parts of rocks
covered in barnacles, life hermiting
itself under my fat feet
bent into tidepool, head immersed
into the curiosity of the ocean
she mothered me into existence
breeding rock salt warriors,
preparing for the fall of humanity
sand embedded beneath the film
of my nail polish and steel ring
I collect starfish, plump and bloated
on seawater, then limp deflated against
the sharp cut of air
I log the hours of labor in life,
make oceanography a requirement,
explore the lines in my palms like constellations
let each fistful of ocean
pickle the flesh of mangoes
softening Atlantic scourges
an antidote a potion
—
Dariana Guerrero is a writer, activist, educator, and spoken word poet from Lawrence, MA. A graduate of Smith College and current MA student at Salem State University, her poetry has appeared in The Core Review, Caustic Frolic Literary Journal, Exposed Brick Literary Magazine, Glass Poetry Journal, Voices and Visions, Women: A Cultural Review, Witness Magazine, Death Never Dies: Mourning 2020 Through the Lives and Deaths of Public Figures, Dark History, The Bread Loaf School of English Journal, Mass Poetry’s U35 Series, Boston Poetry Slam, and the Button Poetry Publisher’s Slam at the Roxbury Poetry Festival. Her artist book The Sancocho Shuffle: ¡Cartas Con Sabor! can be found everywhere. You can find more of her work on Instagram @darianawrites and darianaguerrero.com.