Machu Picchu
by Jay Belandres-Mendoza
Step by step, walking up to
the summit of the mountain
to the place I have been told
used to be our home—but
I am afraid of the sky. I fear
the face of those who bore
the sun—heat on my neck.
Who am I to call it mine? It
once was. I used to lay my
body down, melting into the
cracks between the stone. But
there was nothing to catch me. I
once ran to the blue before
I turned my eyes to dirt.
Now these steps are
imprinted on my mind. If
I walk—a string tying head to
stomach—it would never burn.
It would never hurt. Few times,
light barged into shade. Am
I made from dust or stone?
Is my tongue made for
where I was born, or
where I am from? So
much I can learn from
the burn and ache. I know
I must look to the sun, I was
told I am the child it—a
baby born in rays, gilded in
my veins. Now gold weighs me
down and to lift my head requires
my blood more than my neck.
It did not hurt. I do not cry,
but I knew it wasn’t right.
Stairs of death disfigure the
words I wanted to say.
the summit of the mountain
to the place I have been told
used to be our home—but
I am afraid of the sky. I fear
the face of those who bore
the sun—heat on my neck.
Who am I to call it mine? It
once was. I used to lay my
body down, melting into the
cracks between the stone. But
there was nothing to catch me. I
once ran to the blue before
I turned my eyes to dirt.
Now these steps are
imprinted on my mind. If
I walk—a string tying head to
stomach—it would never burn.
It would never hurt. Few times,
light barged into shade. Am
I made from dust or stone?
Is my tongue made for
where I was born, or
where I am from? So
much I can learn from
the burn and ache. I know
I must look to the sun, I was
told I am the child it—a
baby born in rays, gilded in
my veins. Now gold weighs me
down and to lift my head requires
my blood more than my neck.
It did not hurt. I do not cry,
but I knew it wasn’t right.
Stairs of death disfigure the
words I wanted to say.
Jay Belandres-Mendoza is a queer, first-generation Latina-American writer from southwest Florida. She currently attends the University of North Florida getting her bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing. She mainly writes poetry with the exception of the occasional fiction piece and has been a reader for the Talon Review.