Braided [Un]Be-Longing is the long-anticipated debut collection from the sincere and thought-provoking poet Rosanna Alvarez. A braided cultural journey across space and time, the heart-felt collection intricately weaves together the most unanticipated spaces of poetic legacy found in the everyday and in everybody. The poems read like a complicated love letter to community, family, and culture, offering a glimpse into the collective excavation of journeying toward belonging.
I heard Rosanna read her poems from her book Braided [Un]Be-Longing, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment. She said that her poems are about community, and that’s who they belong to. In sharing this book with others, Rosanna expressed that parts of this story must be revealed, and every person will braid their story in the poems. She hopes that readers will have an intention of self-care and taking care of each other after reading the book.
Hearing and relating to a poem can help you feel heard and seen, and listening to Rosanna read the following poem did that for me. Every poem within the book fits into the theme of belonging and un-belonging. I am sure you will find a poem in the book that will uplift, empower, and transcend you.
Dear Strong Woman
I’ve seen poems for the mama
who worries about her body
in size and years
All kinds of assumptions
absorption of standards
seen only through regrets
reinforcing perfection
through imposed imperfections
reassured she is enough
superhumanly tough
But what of the mama
who fears for her body
no hate for the mirror
no lies that she fears
the reflection straight rooted
in generation of folks
who’ve fought for belonging
who flawed in their longing
unique combinations unend
in creational blends
Poems that remind me
that I can spit fire
but what about tears?
to cleanse
all the toxins
absorbed through the years
of traumas preceding
sifting through fears
to summon the strength
when the health of a body is unclear
Not the size or the skin
It’s the physically aching
Unidentified cause
Perhaps wildly mistaken
To be
Simply human
Surviving and thriving
Without ever tucking
And swallowing down
Emotionally spiritually
Beyond physicality
Full bodied and flawed
In our humanity
Never been small
This one’s for the mama
who fears for her body
afraid it’s not enough
to last all the years
to lend all the ears
mend babies’ fears
when they’re all grown
and out on their own
with uncertain timelines
and bodies on lien
without guarantees
Of years or of days
Roar past the fatigue
Not allowed to be tired
Because “Girl, you are fire!”
It’s not fire I want
It’s time to just breathe
And permission to be
Feel
all my emotions
In waves,
like the ocean
That are
– perpetually me
Modern Latina is honored to be a co-sponsor for Braiding Revolution with Rosanna Alvarez next Tuesday, 9/19 at San Jose State University, in the Diaz Compean Student Union Meeting room from 4-5:30 pm. The event hosted by the Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center will include a poetry workshop and book talk with award-winning author Rosanna Alvarez!
