“Prieto, Prieta”

Desirée Alvarez

The thing inside the

thing inside the thing

inside Malinche,

mother, Cortés, father,

casta, first mestizo,

loanword for admixture,

dark one, darker than

one and lighter than

the other, espaldera,

graft, hybrid, pardo, parda,

castiza, like the heads

inside the heads inside

the heads of sculptures

of gods, men, frogs,

jaguar, serpent, mixed

one of lavish lineage.