ode to the new year
i wanted to write a happy poem
so, i pluck a hair from my my mother’s head & name it after my biggest fears.
i walk a mile to the creek in my father’s backyard
& submerge my hand holding my mother’s hair in the water.
the sun shines its warmth. i pretend it will not be our demise.
it is a ritual.
the water bends around my hand and i am lifeless.
this will not ruin me.
this will not ruin me.
the water bends around my hand and i am sentient.
the sun recites its odes
& kisses the moon.
i let go.
By Alejandra Pena
Biography
Alejandra Pena is a queer, Mexican-American poet. Her work has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, Sleet Magazine, and Bright Flash Literary Review. She loves her pug Kiwi & the moon.
Wow, I love this piece! I love the idea of naming something after your fears and letting it go with the stream. I found it interesting and also impactful that you used your mother and your father the way you did in this poem. I’d love to know more about the intention of using them in this piece. With your mother’s hair, what I got from it is that your biggest fears were instilled in you by your mother, so in order to let them go, you have to get a piece of her. As for your father, maybe he gave you courage abundantly (a creek running endlessly) so you decide to swarm yourself (your hand) in that abundance of courage and let it take your fears away (letting go of your mother’s hair). Incredible!!! Best new year poem everrrr