Chicana Stories


Caravan

The caravan thunders onward To the distant dream of the city The caravan carries me onward On my way at last I recently got back from two and a half weeks in Ecuador’s Amazon jungle, and boy was I glad to make it back to L.A., as I’ll explain why in the lines that follow. Precisely, I was in my old Peace Corps site living with a host family in ...


Time and Motion

Time and motion Wind and sun and rain Days connect like boxcars in a train One year ago, I completed my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. To celebrate my one year anniversary, as well as to take care of some official business, I recently returned to my old site for one week. When I arrived to Quito, I found that the national airlin...


Emotion Detector

If we need too much attention Not content with being cool We must throw ourselves wide open And start acting like a fool If we need too much approval Then the cuts can seem too cruel Friends, the situation is growing more dire with each passing day. My resources are stretched to the limit. I barely have enough money to buy food, let alone ot...


Prime Mover

From the point of ignition To the final drive The point of a journey Is not to arrive Anything can happen... The other day, I attended the birthday party of a Shuar Indigenous woman named Carmen. She is an older woman, probably in her 50s, but I know her and her family a bit. I´ve given trees and seeds to them on occasion, and they given me y...