IN THE FIELDS AND THE BARRIOS
Words by Yelisa Ambríz | Photography by Ivanna Medina
Straight thuggin and side eyeing everyone between fresno sidewalks
in the fields and in the barrios
of the central valley
there is a place where all the woman go
a place that only we can see
where women glow
behind brown skin and yellow undertones
gold hoops and painted nails
half-closed eyes and sun kissed hands
two brown pounds and one fist bump
nameplates shining bright
xicana and a little bit hood
still rocking our khakis with a cuff in the crease
como siempre
keeping it real and holding it down
with each other
the way no man can
and always reppin it hard
in remembrance of our ancestors
straight thuggin and side eyeing everyone
between fresno sidewalks
sometimes waiting for our lovers to fall out of the sky
my energy matching your energy
kicking up dust and greeting the sun every morning
while saying yes to love
and no to courtroom injustice
and hello to the lover from my poems
weeping way too many times for our relatives
never forgetting but always forgiving
and sipping the bottle clean to cleanse our broken hearts
one by one
to the rhythm of poverty to beats we never knew we loved
no longer stuck in the past
but in the cosmic conversation
where we are suddenly ourselves again