Cecilia Savala

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Made of Iron

I measure past lives against my own body,
to the quarter inch, convert kilograms
to validation, validation to stress
five days a week—twice on Sundays.
I don't break the rules. I am the rules. The rules make me
the hero, reinforced, iron.

I can be anything when I grow up—
except beautiful. I'm raw materials recycled into a rubber floor.
I'm pre-formed. Predetermined
for high traffic. I'm a heavy hitter.
I can come home. I can trick
my father into believing his legacy.
I can be anything except the oldest son.

Cecilia Savala (she/her) is a Shrek-obsessed Latinx poet, teacher, and mom who writes about gender, body image, generational trauma, and cultural detachment 1200 miles from home. She is a morning person, a cat person, a creative writing teacher at ASU, and the Virginia G. Piper Fellowin-Residence. Her work can be found in Acentos Review, the Boiler, and Poetry South, among others. Follow Cecilia at @cecsav on Instagram.