Weekly Poet Highlight: Yesikastarr

[UFO the Phoenix]

You're Gonna Ask.

you're gonna ask...
why I insist on shoving
brown children's hungry faces under your nose?
why I keep pointing at
single mothers who break spines leaning backwards
for under a dollar a day?
why fight for those I've never met?
and Ill' tell you everything the best I can.
its hard to pin point when this boiling in my blood began.
when my eyes began to divide things into
my world. and everyone else's.
but it was inevitable. decided before my birth.
when Greedy Grandfather
sweat shopped brown hands.
"don't speak such nonsense Jessica.
He was a fair man.
paid THEM 1.75 a day.
In other places Their kind were lucky if they even made a dollar.
Your grandpa, he did the best he could"
but I was born with guilt scraping her teeth on my rib cage.
first cry I gave, wasn't mine. But Theirs.
hints of revolution still growling in my gut.
My father must have also heard these muffled roars before I came along.
before his eyes danced on my mothers face. before the U.S.
back when he sat in his college dorm. inside the wounded heart of El Salvador.
and its ugly civil war. fingers painting large red letters over signs.
"CON DUARTE AUNQUE NO ME HARTE"
cried, when he marched in protest.
then dragged by soldiers into the Forrest.
where they whipped, burnt and spat on him.
hot tears streamed down his face as they killed his roommate.
laughing they stripped all clothes off of both of them.
jumped back in their jeep leaving my Daddy behind
naked right to the core.
I know he sobbed once he fled.
grandma standing at the doorway waving and crying.
everything getting smaller and smaller in his memory.
El Norte with its wrinkled English and smelly highways.
his new home and the sticky silence that claimed his tongue.
until my mother came along.
with eyes so big they threatened to drink in the world.
lips so soft and red, they made rose petals jealous.
a sad story tucked into her curls.
servant since the age of 12. sole provider for a family of ten.
hands and heart calloused.
insisting all her heart missed was just Puerto Rico and her mother.
she also hardly spoke. but her hips hummed every time she moved.
cumbias. rancheras. rumbas. corridos. bachatas. merengues.
vida.
and it was right then. fate stepped in.
he stole a kiss. insisted that was it.
yesterday, today and forever rolled into one second.
"say yes colochita chula. and ill feed your eyes all my life"
soon I came.
daughter of immigration. hard labor. protest.
silence. hidden tears. whipped backs.
granddaughter of suppressors.
punishers. thief's. guilt.
and you ask me.
why do I bother?
care?
I gave you my story. the best I could.
and for the rest. I blame destiny.






1) what inspired this poem and could you explain it a little for us?

ahh inspiration came in existance. i was birthed into this poem. see my grandfather was an irish man who owned a small factory in new york...because of probles with the IRS...he left the country, almost bankrupt. to make a long story short he ended up in El Salvador when my father was 3 months old...he began a factory that became a sweat shop. my father grew up in central america..insisting he was central american...when in college he joined the civil war ... the students protesting...all that good stuff lol. he was exiled. as the poem goes.
he fled to the country of his birth...who he hated (my father was a socialist. loathed what the u.s. represented)
anyway...my mothers is a puerto rican woman who was sold to a ritch mexican family...lived half her life between both countries...working most of her life.
she and my father met in East Los Angeles...and then i came.
i rebellious woman...believer of communism...i carry my fathers love for his country and a larger love for its people.
the poem was my explanation for why i am what i am.


2) What is the strange fruit concept that your in?

my fruits! i get giddy just mentioning them. lol. we met on hiphoppoetry.com about 2 years ago. 8 women from ages 17-32. poets/mc's...performers. we seemed to have a common purpose in our writings...our people. advocation. movement. it was only obvious to do what we next... We became a performing group geared to provide an outlet thru the arts for our youth. we are officialy a non profit organization (key word official! lol) and have put together our first book that is waiting to be published titled Fruition. Recently we finished our site (www.strangefruits.com) and well, the future awaits us.


3) You and Bhitiah are like sisters, how did ya’ll meet and could you break down your relationship

tiah found me. lord knows how lol. you cant break down a relatioship like ours. too many bonds ya know? plus shes a crazy stubborn cow.

4) What do you like most about Cali, and what do you dislike about it


honestly? too many things..but one is the beach. i cant live without the beaches. and i cant stand the damn traffic i swear one day yall will see me on the news "young woman injured 5 killed 2 on the 101 during rush hour"

5) Name your favorite poet and favorite animal….now what do they have in common?

Sandra Cisneros and The Puma...they are both beasts. Sensual...and intimidating.


6) You’re not new to poetry but you’re new to the realm, from what you’ve observed thus far what do you think about our poetic-lounge?

it need alot of work. more dedication...and constructive criticism. I noticed the good poets are stuck in their ways...they need to be challenged. Expand...grow. elevate. a real poet never stops growing.

7) True True, aight what’s your views on the mainstream and do you feel poetry is making a come back or is it just spiraling downwards and poets are too stubborn to accept it?

poetry has been around since creation, it will always be here. the only diffrence is that people (mainstream) have learned how to bottle it up and sell it. tsk tsk, not good. generic is never the way!


8) Which other poet would you like to see interviewed?

id say tiah but i bet shes been interviewed. lol thats the only person i know!
okay okay...someones whose name starts with the letter....
C
lol



REQUEST LIST THUS FAR:

lpoet
Realms
Brit Boi Gee
Black Liquid
Illpoetical
D-Rell
and any poet whose name begins with C

Past Interviews:

Bhitiah
Mind Soul
Almostfamous
Misskey

[shadygrady]

yesikka star you are beautiful

ill be back to add some thoughts on your poem and the interview

[Bhitiah]

ew, dont take his comments to heart girl...


you know, i think it was you who was the cow first so i'd stfu if i were you lol