how does the body live in estranged land owned my anglo blood carrying within me a cry behind a scalpel opening the surface the dermis is recreations of colonized inheritance of bodies pulling itself upwards opening arms to doctors who tell us more about ourselves than our mothers knew genetically speaking i didn’t inherit her body stranded in colombia sucking the words right out goes the tube sucking it all out goes the names i wish i was never called the doctor to ask what is the best way to take shape in this space i want to feel myself thinning fulfilling what i’m being asked of to be an obedient girl living under a knife edge
shrink
every morning i put on my tightest dress as an act of preservation in the words se ve mejor así the body is commemorated into yes always yes is the only thing my mouth good at
submission in a tug of the skin as a practice of excess removal somewhere buried is a man pulling at my excess spilling over trying to tuck it in every night i wrap myself in thinking if a thought is enough to mourn this body
katixa espinoza is a Miami-born poet based in Queens. Her works can be found on OCCULUM, Vagabond City Lit, Hypertrophic Mag, and other places as well. She exists @katixasaid.
Katbing (@katbingart) is a graphic designer, illustrator and muralist from Los Angeles. She has worked on large-scale installations for Tommy Hilfiger, The Hive Gallery & Studios in LA, and festivals including Desert Daze and Music Tastes Good. Katbing is currently trying her hand at stop motion animation and she is having a really good time and doing a gosh darn great job. Katbing is good at most sports.
