The Tigress of El Salvador

Sleepy eyes roam to casket,

rolling over, finally exhausted.

Little girl, like a mouse

reaching for silver necked mic

squeaking about a Mami:

Ana Ruth Salinas.

They called her

The Tigress of El Salvador

16 year old migrant, a mother to us all

El Cochino, Muy Feo.

Your pobrecito arrived without fail

still looking up and seeing your face,

always occupying a nostalgic space.

They played you montage on the screen

surprised I hardly knew a thing. 

But you voice in my ear

echoing so many years.

How you ruled with a laugh

and sometimes a glare,

or leche con chocolate

to sweeten our tense lair.

I’ll listen to your daughter, Listen to your son

I’ll listen harder,  Since I thought I was one

Ana Ruth Salinas,

the Tigress of El Salvador.

I see you now in photos 

and who the work was for.

Kalvin M. Madsen is a fiction writer and poet living in Pasadena CA, and is the EIC of Low Hanging Fruit. His short story collection Hello, Receiver was released in 2019, and his upcoming poetry collection “American Families” is set to release later this year.