Clap When You Land

by Elizabeth Acevedo

“Don’t let it stain you,” Tía’s always said. But can’t she see? This place we’re from already has its prints on me.

& if a heart has topography, I know none of these boys know the coordinates to navigate & survive mine’s rough terrain.

A truth you did not want to know can rot & grow mold in the pit of your stomach, can sour every taste you’ve ever had, can cast a stench so bad you forget you’ve ever known a sweet thing.

If tension is a winged monster, it’s cast its feathers on the roof of my house.