XII. Nothing
Llego a la casa y me pongo a fumar
con mis dedos de hielo.
Con tanto frío que tengo se me ha espantado
hasta el miedo.
Music: “Heroes del Estereo,” by Huáscar Robles.
Puerto Rico. 2010.
Neither Naty, nor Dona Silva, nor Don Alvin could figure this out. The stench still follows me like a muerto hiding in the corners. Naty taught me to leave small white plates with peppermint bon bons on a corner of the room. “The rats won’t touch them,
trust me. Those are for Elegua, who lives in corners and crossroads. And an upside down jar of water on top of the refrigerator to keep the muertos and the past lovers away.” I lit palo santo and
placed it next to the jar. These two things must always be kept at a
high point of the house. So many rules.
This selection comes from the book, Naty and My Chaotic Stench, available from Anomalous Press. Purchase your copy here! Our curator for this selection is Nilsa Ada Rivera.
Shey Rivera Ríos (pronouns: they/them) is a multi- genre artist and arts manager. They are active in the mediums of performance, installation, digital media, and poetry/narrative. The creations span several genres and a myriad of topics, from home to capitalism to queerness to magic. Rivera is also a performance curator and producer of interventions that activate people creatively. Participation in national organizations include: member and alumni of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Artist Communities, fellow of the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) 2017-2018, and Brown University Public Humanities Community Fellow 2017-2019. Rivera has a BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, and graduate studies in Contemporary Media and Culture from the University of the Sacred Heart, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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