To someone who’s heard “I love you” too many…

The couple who owns the restaurant that makes

you feel safe with homemade bean curd uses a variation,

I love your—and the stipulation of achievability—

you would have such beautiful children. So many people

are interested in how you may multiply, even if puberty

made you cry. The way a parent says I love you

to their half of your body (or do they address

the parent they loved whose recessive lack of underarm hair

lives on as a party trick? Every time you undress,

your lola enters the bedroom with you). That special

mestiza mystique which a friend bemoans

belongs to some mestizas and not others. She doesn’t know

another way to say I love you.

Source: Poetry (March 2026)