tía Daniela has a Depeche Mode rose tattooed above her ankle
tía Hortensia moves from pot to pot across her backyard,
begonias, hibiscus, and gardenias anointed with holy hose water
tía Janie tells stories of young white men asking her
to two-step at Cowboys Dance Hall
tía Susan makes the sign of the cross every time
she drives by a Catholic church
tía Cindy says aver while she puts on reading glasses
to look at a photo of your novio
tía Rosie watches Sex in the City reruns on E! before bed
the tías in Tía Maria’s family wish she wouldn’t stay
with her alcoholic mentiroso husband
tía Lilianna and her “amiga” were the first lesbians you ever saw
tía Rafa drives up from the valley every year for fiesta
she hasn’t missed it in sixteen years
tía Andrea isn’t really your tía tía but she always bought you
what you wanted from Target
tía Blanca washes all of Sunday’s dishes while
the Cowboys’ commentary rolls on and on and on
tía Adela went back to school despite her Tías giving her shit
about not staying home with her two kids
you love how tía Vicky’s peach fuzz halos her face
in the living room’s yellow light
tía Nayeli is called sensitive because she calls out
homophobic comments from her elder Tías
tía Rosie still wears the discontinued powder
she sold in her Avon days
tía Xiomara cuts her friends’ hair in her kitchen while
Sábado Gigante fills the silences
tía Dulce sells teas and fajas from the trunk of her toyota camry
tía Antonia gathers her sister’s kids to get Dairy Queen
and go honking for the Spurs downtown
tía Carmen ran away from home and her Tías say
she went on tour with Mötley Crüe
tía Denise’s San Antonio southside inflection is magic to you, especially when she starts her sentences with DUDEEEEE it’s cause like…
tía Angie lives for the motorcycle breeze that whips
around her on the nighttime highway
tía Sara kicks everyone out of the kitchen while she prepares
for the family’s Pay-Per-View backyard pachanga
tia Eva paints portraits of Marilyn Monroe in calavera makeup
with a banner that reads, Smile Now, Cry Later
every señora who calls you mija is your tía
every woman who has ever offered you a tampon is your tía
every west side butch4butch couple you see in public are your tías
when someone splinters your blood, a million tías spill out
when the gods tire of their stars, they will create
a new galaxy of tía-shaped constellations
when i am dust-shaped, let me be remembered like a niece’s favorite tía
when i am dust-shaped, let me be remembered like a black sheep tía
when i am dust-shaped, let me be remembered like a tía
in a foldable chair by the Gulf of Mexico, squeezing a lime
into her beer while the sun kisses her Deftones tattoo
