by Clara Olivo
We eat with our hands
a natural connection to the earth
honoring las manos
that cultivated the grains
ground the masa
and shaped the tortillas
Generously serving a meal
fit to devour
with one’s own skin
Our hands
that touch the food
we’ve shared
laughed
and grieved into
Kneading the memories
of our past
into the daily bread
that feeds us
the truth of our divinity
that lives and grows into the soil,
Lingering in the air we breathe
expanding up and outward into the heavens
A humble reminder
That we partake only to return
to that
from which we came
Bellies full of love
and lavish
abundancia
Our hands
the vessel to deliver and receive
the bounty worthy of our
insatiable desire
to remember
That we are one
Clara Olivo (she/her) is a queer, neurodivergent Afro-Salvadoreña. Her words capture the traumas and triumphs of living in diaspora and how displacement, colonization, and survival have shaped her life. Clara honors herself and her work by bringing the power of her ancestors into everything she says, writes, and does.
📸 Featured Image: Original photo by Albert-93/shutterstock.com; image transformation by Emerald Staff.
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