parda (feminine): a general term used in the spanish and portuguese colonies of the 
americas that referred to the mixed bloods whose ancestry could almost never be 
accurately described. for our purposes here, it is being used in reference to the 
multi-racial descendants of africans, natives, and europeans.

i am a perpetual pardon 
i limp into the room & 
you say: fox woman get out!
   smudge it & start again

i am naked & without clothing 
i am the roasted house slave 
i am the white man’s leftovers 
i am the white woman’s hate
i am the high highfalutin rape 
   smudge it & start again 

i get seasick now that i’m older
the colonial in me is wearing away
but i still have that candle in the eye 
called bloodlust
those kleptomaniac grabbers 
it must have felt good wearing all that gold 
i am a broke down ship      la niña      
   smudge it & start again

nobody is a purebred anymore
i’m precocious mutt
i know all about the small living quarters for 
tender-tribed-people like me
the people-with-too-many-ancestors-inside-of-us
we have now painted our living room
we chose the color of bloodied-up hide
we chose us

in the end i screech during childbirth 
my husband takes off down the hall 
like meaty antelope man 
my skin is slick with sweat 

i’m telling you it feels good to be this naked 
forgive me you who are so fully clothed