This poem has been published by FreezeRay Poetry here and appears in her book Peluda. This Rude Girl is Lonely Girl! series is inspired by the Netflix and Marvel series Jessica Jones.
jessica jones is so darkhaired she must be latina
i pretend she is so that i am
not once again rooting for some angry white girl
so i tell myself that
all of this throwing a heater out of the window must be chingona
all of this rude lonely girl must be bruja
all of this breaking & entering & you shoot at me,
i’ll pull the bullet out of my ruined jacket &
shove it up your ass with my pinky finger
must be mujerista
i tell myself
all of this dark hair clinging to her rosy cheeks like a bad boyfriend
must have been my abuela’s once
all of this smash a cockroach that crawls up the drain
must be with my mother’s fist
& when jessica jones looks in the mirror
& says “to be alone is better”
it must be me
it must be me
not smiling back
AKA What Would Jessica Jones Do? was written by Melissa Lozada-Oliva.