Upon Hearing the New Citizenship Requirements
“But if I seize this tongue, it is because it has adopted me, and no longer cuts me from my word”
—Khal Torabully
Diaspora: die, as poor
(as in a poor diet)
(as in diaphragm of Albas
and Darianos)
(as in distilleries in Northern
California don’t equivocate wine c/sellar)
The
agriturismo Airbnb abuser,
tour-guide-told-me-this type,
non vero, non che, non capisco.
I often wonder, on that test, one our mom
dreams to pass before she pass’s:
which questions must they ask?
Which teet did Romulus drink from?: the right or left?
Does chicken limonata have capers?: sì or no?
The insinuation of a “need for novelty” implies
we wear our skin and tongues like an ornament:
but my tongue is spittiling
is trying it’s best on your
accents and ascent:
Alalalalalala
It’s like my tongue has fingernails
saliva, a hand-nail
in my search for
sacred sounds,
“real” recipes,
protected piece of Tuscany.
My mom never gets so disappointed.
The drop-off from her ancestors was so
quick, she barely had time to see the way
they walk away, in which rhythm they
washed themselves or remedied their ails
and how they ate off of a floor.
My sister-in-law recently acquired her US citizenship after 25 years or so,
a South to North American transfer of identity that supposes itself as triumph…
So, complaining about this shouldn’t feel so
comfortable.
So, complaining about this shouldn’t feel so
immune, immune to
a boiled down water.
I simply don’t get why you hate your diaspora so much.
We aren’t the ones who left.
And shouldn’t I be mad that you couldn’t feed
my Calabrian great aunts and uncles? You dump
them out and then refuse to allow any trace of them back?
What is your country full of anyway?
Why so full of yourselves,
so many you’s and not me’s,
so many novelties, Americanis,
trying to take away your Tuscany?
Why can’t you just let us sleep,
even if it’s in the toe of your boot?
Victor Hugo Mendevil is an emerging poet and literary scholar based in Boston. Originally from Seattle, he holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hofstra University, and is pursuing his PhD in English at Northeastern University. Victor has received a fellowship by Eckerd College’s Writers in Paradise Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was granted a scholarship to attend DISQUIET’s 2025 International Literary Program in Lisbon after being shortlisted for their 2025 Literary Prize in Poetry. His published work is forthcoming, or may be found, in The Malahat Review, Pangyrus LitMag, Harbor Review, and America’s Best Emerging Poets.
BACK TO ISSUE