8 de marzo 2020, CDMX & Mi ciudad está llena de colores

by Carla Del Sol Verver y Vargas Ortiz

University of the Incarnate Word

Carla Verver is an international student from Guanajuato, Mexico at UIW San Antonio, majoring in English and Philosophy with a minor in Creative Writing and a concentration in Women and Gender Studies. She is expected to graduate in 2023. Ever since moving to San Antonio, Carla wanted to represent her culture through her writing.

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8 de marzo 2020, CDMX.

We avoid the streets,
every day except 
that one day in March.
The one day in which
the trees turned the streets
purple, and made my
friends feel powerful, 
instead of afraid. 
Afraid of being killed,
violated... 

Mothers cry while 
everyone yells “VIVAS 
SE LAS LLEVARON, VIVAS 
LAS QUEREMOS” 
And

we felt so much power, 
that the next day, we hide. 
We cease to exist, 
we sit and wonder 
if any men notice.
So, 

we disappear from 
the streets, the schools, and the metro. 
We disappear from
our phones, but are all 
over the media. 
And I keep wondering,

apart from my sisters, 
Does any of them care?
I realize: they do not want to. 
And yet, we force them.
We were everywhere,

and now, they force us 
to be nowhere, nothing. 
They were killing us, 
so, for one day, we kill 
ourselves. We reclaim 
our power. Make them, 
for once, feel 
our absence,
our power, 
our fear. 

[Mi ciudad está llena de colores]

Las casas son amarillas y rosas y azules y verdes.
En marzo, los árboles son morados. Jacarandas.
Por las noches, los edificios se tiñen de una luz blanca, aunque amarillenta. 
Pero el único color que persiste es el rojo. 
El rojo corre por las calles todos los días. 
11 asesinadas.
Morado.
3 cárteles.
Verde.
4 accidentes. 
Azul.
10 madres llorando.
Rosa.
20 borrachos. 40 sobrios.
Amarillo.
Matando, violando, robando. 
Rojo.
Cada vez más flores.
Gente pintando, amando.
Mi ciudad está llena de colores,
Blanco.
72,237 habitantes luchando.