Laredo Carne

Laredo Carne

By: Cuppycake

You can tell how different a Saturday in Laredo is
Than San Antonio.
When I see my dad and mom’s mind working.
Making lists on their head on what they will go pick up.
To create the waft of smell in the neighborhood that announces how magic works where we are from.
I never needed my parents to call us and let us know Saturday plans or when dinner would be ready.
We already knew.

That dad would say he’d make the Carne and at the end it would be mom.
That you had to get some frijoles before they were gone because mom’s recipe almost seemed better than the Carne itself.

We knew Mexican brisket would be the star.
That when I moved to San Antonio,
Carnicerias would look at me funny when I’d say not the brisket and they’d give me the American one.
( Aguja de pecho, y me la corta delgadita, porfavor.)
That it’s all in the seasonings and if Mom loves you she’d give you the recipe.

But at the end,
Saturday in Laredo
Feels like love is in the air.
That warmth calls our names
And hugs, jokes, and quality time are a must.
That someone is bound to get drunk
And stories retold.
And no matter if we make a Carne in San Antonio
It turns out to be just food.
Maybe Laredo heart is different.
And all this time it isn’t the Carne that tastes different,
But the air, or ambience or
Who knows.
Maybe it is my mom’s Carne,
Afterall.

My writing and poetry consist of using this format to deliver messages needed to unlearn
toxicity, relearn and redirect our cultural upbringings and create a better future for our kin. Hard
topics like machismo, child abuse, rape, domestic violence and cultural shame are examined and
discussed, often. As a survivor of child abuse, rape and domestic abuse I feel that my experience
wold be of waste if not shared and used to fix how we are now failing our children as a latinx
community. Most times this means going against the currents. But it is needed.

Cuppycake
My name is Aida Felicitas Rodriguez Barrera. I was born in Laredo, Tx and now living in San Antonio, TX. I have been writing poetry and creative nonfiction for 10 years now and performing Slam poetry for 5 years.

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