Читать книгу The Poet X – WINNER OF THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019 - Элизабет Асеведо - Страница 15
Оглавление“Mami,” I Say to Her on the Walk Home
The words sit in my belly,
and I use my nerves
like a pulley to lift
them out of my mouth.
“Mami, what if I don’t
do confirmation?
What if I waited a bit for—”
But she cuts me off,
her index finger a hard exclamation point
in front of my face.
“Mira, muchacha,”
she starts, “I will
feed and clothe no heathens.”
She tells me I owe it to
God and myself to devote.
She tells me this country is too soft
and gives kids too many choices.
She tells me if I don’t confirm here
she will send me to D.R.,
where the priests and nuns know
how to elicit true piety.
I look at her scarred knuckles.
I know exactly how she was taught
faith.
