#diasporapoetry

[losientojournals]

I'm Not Angry, I'm Dominican

an excerpt

by Grace Sofia

I’m not overreacting, you’ve just never experienced a Dominican mother’s anger with a chancleta before. The precision in the throw, the sting in the hit. The sheer brujería of it all. My mother could be in the living room, and I’d be turning a corner and somehow still get hit in the face. I’d be running in my socks, slipping and sliding trying to dodge and ditch the chancla.

I’m not overreacting, you’ve just never experienced a Dominican mother’s anger with a chancleta before. The precision in the throw, the stin