by Rosie Angelica Alonso
How to Invoke La Llorona
Sleepwalk along the sewers
between Figueroa and First Street
Where she was last heard,
A coyote’s howl coiled in moonlight
Light three velas beside the concrete
Reza to las tres Santitas del Barrio:
La Santa Matilda
patron saint of bruises and hickies, Come Forth
La Santa Cabrona,
patron saint of moshpits and broken noses, Come Forth
La Santa Malvada,
patron saint of tattoos and skateboard wrecks, Come Forth
In the name of the Mothers
and of the Daughters
And of the Holy Me
I call upon, you, Llorona
luz obscura, luna llena
La más chingona de las chingonas
Come Forth
Smudge manzanilla oil around your eyes,
Pinch a blue spider bite above the lashes
If that doesn’t work
ride your skateboard
to the corner liquor off Simmons Avenue
Set offerings on an altar:
- five hand-rolled cigars
- a bag of Hot Cheetos
- one cup of split ends of hair
- a dozen claveles morados
- y una onza de la mala vida
Follow her steps through the Sixth Street Bridge
Drown your old clothes
Apply violet lipstick,
a spiked denim vest
Hail Llorona, la homegirl más firme,
Who walks amongst these callejones
Searching for sus hijas,
Las hijas de la chingada
como yo
Swallow her reflection rising in gas puddles
Hail Llorona, full of rebeldía
Deliver me into temptation
And keep me there
See a shadow bent above the city,
a halo of smoke
Rosie Angelica Alonso(She/Her) was born in East Los Angeles. Her poetry recounts stories of the working class people, the myths of La Virgen Roachalupe, and the overlooked Chicano punk culture in East LA. Her poetry collection, The Cockroach Manifesto, is forthcoming in 2020. Her hobbies include bike riding, cooking tofu tacos, and sneaking her cat into Walmart because, you know, sticking it to the man.
Rosie Angelica Alonso(She/Her) was born in East Los Angeles. Her poetry recounts stories of the working class people, the myths of La Virgen Roachalupe, and the overlooked Chicano punk culture in East LA. Her poetry collection, The Cockroach Manifesto, is forthcoming in 2020. Her hobbies include bike riding, cooking tofu tacos, and sneaking her cat into Walmart because, you know, sticking it to the man.