» Poetry

Clauses

when asked to get into it
when told not to care
 when the committee asks
 if I’m planning to have
 children before
when told to speak up
when told to take it easy
 when asked why
 do I care
 so much

 

when taken aside
 when asked
 (in a whisper)
 if I was offended

 

when they don’t ask me to join
 just because

 

when a man uses air quotes
around feminism

 

when a friend asks the barista
to make her iced coffee the color
of my forearm,
not the lighter inside—
the outside, it’s perfect.

 

when a friend asks about ass fetishes and Latinos
when the editor asks me to tone it down
when the editor asks me to spice it up

 

 when asked if I’m okay

 

This poem begins our month-long celebration of
Hispanic Heritage Month here at Aquifer.
Watch for our print feature in the fall issue as well.

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Gloria Muñoz

Gloria Muñoz’s writing has appeared in LUMINA, Yes Poetry, The Rumpus, Best New Poets, Acentos Review, Forage Poetry, The Brooklyn Review, Entropy, and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbook Your Biome Has Found You. Muñoz teaches creative writing at Eckerd College and is a proud co-founder of Pitch Her Productions, an organization dedicated to women in film.