UNTITLED
by Xochiquetzal Candelaria
Undergraduate, UC Berkeley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Copyright 1997 
by Xochiquetzal Candelaria 
As published in The Nation Magazine 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
how can i make it up to you 
the thirty two thousand 
who will attend university without my sister 
you who will never know 
she can sing 
with perfect pitch 
draw your lips from memory 
with a sharp number two pencil 

how i wish you could hear her 
answers 
to problems 
larger than her fifteen years 

my sister already caring 
for her pregnant friends 
comprehending a woman must dilate 
past nine centimeters 
before it's time for the baby 

my sister 
sometimes shy 
the fifth girl 
awful at math 
can teach you 
to listen