Braided [Un]Be-Longing

By Rosanna Alvarez

Braided [Un]Be-Longing is the long-anticipated debut collection from the sincere and thought-provoking poet Rosanna Alvarez. A braided cultural journey across space and time, the heart-felt collection intricately weaves together the most unanticipated spaces of poetic legacy found in the everyday and in e

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ocote Libre Press
• Release date: Aug 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987741702

Rosanna Alvarez

Rosanna Alvarez is a multifaceted interdisciplinary storyteller, artist, and poet. She writes creative non-fiction and weaves poetry that addresses self- recovery, voice, and liberation. Her writing is a constant process of remembering herself whole, while grounding herself in community, as she translates the living legacy of the stories that have shaped us into who we have become both individually and collectively. She is also the creator of a series of Latinx coloring books.

Book preview

Black and white cover art which includes a black swatch across top of page with "Braided [Un]Be-Longing" with braided person wearing shawl

Braided [Un]Be-Longing

Rosanna Alvarez

Ocote Libre Press

Copyright © 2023 Rosanna Alvarez

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Information for Print Edition:

ISBN-13: 979-8-9877417-1-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023902802

Information for eBook Edition:

ISBN-13: 979-8-9877417-0-2

Cover design by: Rosanna Alvarez

Published by Ocote Libre Press in the United States of America. www.ocotelibrepress.com

Para mis tres guerreras,

and to the little girl who waited patiently

through the longing

Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.

                                                                                      - Audre Lorde

Rise. All of you rise to speak your truth. We need more people who name themselves after the land, instead of naming the land after themselves.

                                                                                      - Lyla June

"we cede nothing.

forget nothing. the

voices are here. the voices are with

us. within us.

the voices do not end. the singing

does not end."

                                                                                      - ire’ne lara silva

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THE JOURNEY

The Willow Tree Re-members

Obligation Emancipation

Be. Longing

Ocote

Healing Reflections

Antes. de mí

semillas

Palabras Floridas

Jardín de Flores

Landed Migration

Scarred Battlegrounds

Sublimation

rooted

Derechos

La Facultad Jaguar

sahumadora

Healing Wild Woman

Hives

Al Hocico Libre

coyolxauhqui

huanengo

All Ironies Intended

Rosie’s Revenge

ibid

But did you read it?

Chingona Fierce

Chiasmus

ocelotl tekpatl

war cry

Beautiful Soul Speak

Tlatlatziniliztli

Orenda

And Still, We Braid

Gente Decente

Chinga Tu Afterthought

Censura

Center Justified

Just People, Though

Unceremonious Mitote

encaje

cae mal, caiman

They Mean

Strategic All(Lies)

Pearly Gates

la clave

En Protesta

Against Your Window

context con leche

saladita

Static

Tortilla Consciousness

Monumental

Raised to Rise

Contentious

Rarámuri

Drum Speak

Beyond Sepia Tones

Precious

Control-Alt-Delete

I Dream

capaz

Dear Strong Woman

copal

Mujeres de Posteridad

Un-Preyed

parteras partidas

Givers of Life

salve

NOTES

About the Author

FOREWORD

by Brenda Vaca

According to my word sister Rosanna Alvarez - hermana de la pluma, fellow creator of in tlili in tlapali, in the red of the blood and the black of the soil - this book has been incubating forever.

When she says forever, she means forever. In Braided[Un]Be-Longing, Rosanna Alvarez resounds the singing bowl, the drum and heartbeat of Turtle Island, and calls in our ancestors and ourselves, all in the same breath. She has told me before, We’ve always been having this conversation. But, I did not understand what she meant until now.

I first met Rosanna Alvarez through a wonderful non-profit organization in Eastside San José, California called Somos Mayfair. I was an ordained reverend at the time, and Rosanna worked diligently in the Mayfair neighborhood, otherwise known as Sal Si Puedes - the same Eastside barrio that raised and reared labor organizer Cesar Chavez. Our organizations shared space and a parking lot. Somos rented out the old church’s La Trinidad Fellowship Hall and reached young local families looking to organize, nourish, and advocate for their own well-being in all its senses. At the time, they had an emphasis on improving the literacy rate in the K-3rd grade community. This was indeed an uphill climb in the shadow of the technological Goliath that is the Silicon Valley where rent is continually skyrocketing, especially in the wake of the great recession of 2008. The neighborhood was gutted by the real estate market crash and boasted the most foreclosures in the U.S. at the time, due to predatory lending practices.

One afternoon,