Lecciones de lengua

By Brenda Cárdenas Brenda Cardenas

She is proud of her papá

because he comes

to their little grey school,

converted from army barracks,

to teach español

to Mrs. Brenda’s fifth grade.

And that means they don’t

have to listen to that awful

Señora Beister on TV

with her screech owl version

of “Las mañanitas” and her annoying

forefinger to the ear,

Escuchen

and then to the lips,

y repitan.

He teaches them to order

Coca-Cola en el restaurán–

Señor, quisiera una Coca, por favor–

and the names of all the utensils–

cuchara, cuchillo, tenedor.

The children look at him funny

when he picks up the knife.

Next week he will demonstrate

the bullfights he watched

in Mexico when he was muy chiquitito.

He will choose a boy to snort, stomp,

charge the red cloth

that Papá will snap

at his side as he dodges

the sharp-horned strike,

stabs invisible swords

into the boy’s hide

and makes the children laugh.

Source: Boomerang (2009)

Biography

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brenda Cárdenas is the author of two poetry collections, From the Tongues of Brick and Stone (Momotombo Press) and Boomerang (Bilingual Review Press), as well as the co-editor of Between the Heart and the Land / Entre el corazon y la tierra: Latina Poets in the Midwest. She writes in a blend of English and Spanish, which she has said reflects her interest in “the interconnectedness and . . .

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