Poem-A-Week
Home Keys
by Jesenia Chávez
As I type away the clock it ticks the time goes by,
I thank my strict High School teacher for the typing skills I got now,
I can type without staring at the keyboard
with my fingers on the home keys like she taught us
Typing away to express the losses and the sorrow,
to explain mostly to myself, the feelings, the exhaustion, the fears
The letters forming words as I shed some tears
The letters forming the shape of my grief
What a relief.
Typing away the sorrows and filling the page with my joy too
The smiles and the breeze and the birds incessant chirping no matter my mood
The blooming flowers on my walks and the familiar hawk
The raspado man, con elotes (corn) and all the hot chips and the duritos too, he’s making jokes with the kids, “quieres sin hielo, o con hielo”, the jokes are free, the raspado $2.50, he even convinces them to try fresa con chicle flavor, the baby boy can hardly hold the footlong raspado, you get your money’s worth.
I walk around searching for a fruit stand, pero no hay
I settle for a raspado de leche flavor and an elote
What a relief a walk on the streets can be.
Cuz even when you’re blue, you can’t help but see the hope around you
Making a mental note for later, for later when you can sit and type this little poemita,
when you’ve wiped away the paralysis and found the medicine on the keyboard, on
the home keys like the teacher taught us
Jesenia Chávez is a proud Chicanita, public-school teacher, writer, poet and storyteller. She has kept a diary since elementary school, and it is filled with witty observations on the life of a little Mexican girl in Southeast Los Angeles who keeps losing her chanclas. Her writing is inspired by her parents’ migration to Los Angeles, her teaching career, her sense of loss in the rapidly changing landscape of Los Angeles, and all the small moments in between when she can catch her breath and put pen to paper. Look out for her upcoming poetry collection that will be published with Alegría magazine. She has also recently ventured into the podcasting world by co-hosting Que Me Cuentas (What can you tell me): A mostly Latinx storytelling podcast with a friend. She believes in the healing power of storytelling, poetry, dancing, nature and lots of hugs. Find her on IG @chabemucho.