The Nopal Lady
I don’t know why they see
Me as something so taboo.
Yes, I may be a nopal, yet the
Fruit bared is nurturing yet
Deliciously tart.
He claims to see me as something
Glorified, but devours my stereotypes
And whitewashed history.
Why don’t you speak Spanish?
Are you really Chicana?
I am The Nopal Lady,
I cradle your manhood and insecurities.
People perch above my prickly bosom only
In search of savory salvation.
I am The Nopal Lady,
Who carves your wounds with reality only
To be suckled by Mother Nature’s deceiver.
Mouths dripping with anticipation,
Hands soaked from blood and lust.
Starvingly satisfied, yet secretive.
I am The Nopal Lady,
Bright green from the Divinity,
Prickly from my loss loves, and
Full of beauty and pain.
I am The Nopal Lady,
Born of life and death,
Beauty and dangerous, but
Not so taboo in the eyes of my true Creator.
c/s
Ariel Menendez is a second-year student at the University of New Mexico. Raised in Pacoima, California, Ariel wanted to pursue her career within the Creative Writing world. So, she is currently a double major in Chicano/a Studies and English Studies with a minor in Spanish. She wants to continue into graduate school and hopefully paves the way for future Chicana poets. She dedicates this poem to the women in her family and the women who have made her time so far at the University of New Mexico a journey.