me in new mexico

photo by james carrillo

Everywhere I went people called me a witch my doctor said I must have been a witch in my previous life I had a hard time believing in previous lives because I didn’t remember any they said it was my hair that was so dangerous I cut it short then my eyes became dangerous so I stopped looking at people then people talked about my voice so I left I was in a foreign lover's bed when the strange high fever took over my body for two weeks I moaned I took an airplane and came home alone where I slept for a year my right lung was infected with tuberculosis my voice was gone I didn’t talk I didn’t look for a year when I opened my eyes again my voice returned to my body not in the same tune as before my father cried how I looked and sounded different to him I was ruined I never understood why he had to dwell on my past I never cared for virginity or beauty or purity I liked being destroyed so that I could be reborn Dad, please don’t cry I died many times before and I was reborn many times