"Battlegrounds" by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
September 21, 2020  

Battlegrounds


Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo
Gettysburg National Military Park

Motorcycles and white tour vans speed 
between behemoth granite shafts, shove
my body by their force, leave me roadside
and wandering fields. Little is funny
when you’re Chicana and walking 
a Civil War site not meant for walking.
Regardless, I ask park rangers and guides 
for stories on Mexicans soldiers,

receive shrugs. No evidence in statues 
or statistics. In the cemetery, not one 
Spanish name. I’m alone in the wine shop. 
It’s the same in the post office, the market, 
the antique shop with KKK books on display.
In the peach orchard, I prepare a séance,
sit cross-legged in grass, and hold
a smoky quartz to the setting sun.  

I invite the unseen to speak. So many dead, 
it’s said Confederate soldiers were left to rot. 
In war, not all bodies are returned home 
nor graves marked. I Google “Mexicans 
in the Civil War” and uncover layers 
to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 
and Cinco de Mayo. This is how I meet 
ancestors for the first time, heroes 

this country decorates in clownish sombreros 
and fake mustaches, dishonors for fighting 
European empire on shared American land 
Power & Money dictate can’t be shared. 
Years before this, carrying water gallons 
up an Arizona mountain ridge to replenish 
supplies in a pass known as “Dead Man’s,” 
I wrote messages on bottles to the living, 

scanned Sonoran canyons for the lost,
and knew too many would not be found. 
A black Sharpie Virgen drawn on hot plastic 
became a prayer: may the next officer halt 
before cracking her face beneath his boot,
spilling life on to dirt. No, nothing’s funny
when you’re brown in a country you’re taught 
isn’t yours, your dead don’t count.

Copyright © 2020 by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 21, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  

“A first draft of this poem was written while at Gettysburg National Military Park as the ‘Poet in the Park’ resident in partnership with National Parks Arts Foundation and the Poetry Foundation from September 15, 2017-October 7, 2017. Still early in the Trump Administration, NFL protests and the Las Vegas mass shooting were major news stories during my stay, as well as the ongoing debates over Civil War monuments, reignited by the Charlottesville protests and the murder of Heather D. Heyer, on August 12, 2017, by a white supremacist. Tragically, Black, Indigenous, Brown, Immigrant, Trans, and queer bodies continue to be targeted and killed by the current administration, but this poem believes another existence is possible.”
Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the author of Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications, 2016). The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she is cofounder and director of Women Who Submit.

Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge 
(Sundress Publications, 2016)

Black Lives Matter Anthology  
 

“What does suspicion mean? What does suspicion do?”
 
“Personal History” by Adrienne Su
read more
“A Pain That is Not Private” by Lara Mimosa Montes
read more

Thanks to David Tomas Martinez, author of Post Traumatic Hood Disorder, who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays through October 15th. Read a Q&A about Martinez’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year
This free, daily series is made possible by our readers. If you’re able, please consider donating to support this work.
Become a monthly sustainer
join
Make a one-time gift
donate
Copyright © 2020 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
The Academy of American Poets
75 Maiden Lane
St #901
New York, NY 10038

Add us to your address book


View this email in your browser

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Older messages

"A Portrait in Greys" by William Carlos Williams

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Will it never be possible / to separate you from your greyness? Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 20, 2020 A Portrait in Greys William Carlos Williams Will it never be possible to

"Pegasus Autopsy" by Julio Pazos Barrera, translated by Bryan Mendoza

Saturday, September 19, 2020

It's a spacious chamber. / Well lit. Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 19, 2020 Pegasus Autopsy Julio Pazos Barrera translated by Bryan Mendoza It's a spacious chamber.

You're invited to Books Noted Live

Friday, September 18, 2020

Join the Academy of American Poets for Books Noted Live, a new, virtual reading and conversation series featuring poets with new or forthcoming books. The first of four events will take place Friday,

"A Pile of Fish" by Tomás Q. Morín

Friday, September 18, 2020

Six in all, to be exact. I know it was a Tuesday Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 18, 2020 A Pile of Fish Tomás Q. Morín for Paul Otremba Six in all, to be exact. I know it was a

"From Barrio Obrero to La Quince" by Nicole Cecilia Delgado, translated by Urayoán Noel

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Walking is a process in ruins, / a dead history. Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 17, 2020 From Barrio Obrero to La Quince Nicole Cecilia Delgado translated by Urayoán Noel

You Might Also Like

Looking for Better Sleep in 2025? Our Favorite Mattresses Are $300 Off Right Now 

Saturday, January 11, 2025

If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser. Men's Health The Check Out Welcome to The Check Out, our newsletter that gives you a deeper look at some of our editors' favorite

You're Probably Checking Your 401(k) Too Often

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Think of New Habits As Skills. Staring at the number won't make it go up. Not displaying correctly? View this newsletter online. TODAY'S FEATURED STORY You're Probably Checking Your 401(k)

Love, Safety, and Connection in Times of Climate Distress

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Free Meditation ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Weekend: How to Tell Guests to Get a Hotel 🏨

Saturday, January 11, 2025

— Check out what we Skimm'd for you today January 11, 2025 Subscribe Read in browser Header Image But First: a hydrating, tinted lip treatment we love Update location or View forecast EDITOR'S

Dandori Time!

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Lessons from a video game ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

“Winter Night” by Amos Wilder

Saturday, January 11, 2025

O magical the winter night! Illusory this stretch / Of unimaginable grays January 11, 2025 donate Winter Night Amos Wilder O magical the winter night! Illusory this stretch Of unimaginable grays; so

Anne Hathaway Just Shut It Down In A Princess-Like Oscar de la Renta Gown

Saturday, January 11, 2025

She's sure to start a trend. The Zoe Report Daily The Zoe Report 1.10.2025 Anne Hathaway Just Shut It Down In A Princess-Like Oscar de la Renta Gown (Celebrity) Anne Hathaway Just Shut It Down In A

The Difference Between Cleaning, Disinfecting, and Sanitizing

Friday, January 10, 2025

The Best Products We Saw at CES 2025 Cleaning doesn't necessarily sanitize, and sanitizing doesn't necessarily disinfect. Here's the difference and when you need each. Not displaying

Anne Hathaway's Liquid Gold Ball Gown Was So 'Princess Diaries'-Coded

Friday, January 10, 2025

Plus, the reason celebrities' hair looks so good, Dua Lipa's most revealing looks, your daily horoscope, and more. Jan. 10, 2025 Bustle Daily The real reason celebs have such good hair. BEAUTY

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Is Right Where She Belongs

Friday, January 10, 2025

Today in style, self, culture, and power. The Cut January 10, 2025 ENCOUNTER Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Is Right Where She Belongs The southern-raised Nickel Boys actor has carved a Hollywood niche of her