Mi' Padre' was stabbed in a bar fight.
The cantina is the deepest of wells.
Mi' Madre' put mi' ropa in la mochila.
La pandillas tiene mi' hermano - He fell.
Madre' sold her finest of silver
To buy maquillaje to color my face.
She said, "Better that you should have her"
To the man who had come from The United States.
Yo era una nina novia.
El era un hombre mayor.
I wanted to run away fast, go back home,
But nothing was there for me anymore.
I was but only sixteen.
I had never been touched before.
There I was in such a new land,
Our cothes crumpled on the floor.
The whole time I kept my eyes closed.
I longed for mi' familia and home.
He held me and slumbered when it was over.
My tears were hot and I felt so alone.
.
Yo era una nina novia.
El era un hombre mayor.
I wanted to run away fast, go back home,
But nothing was there for me anymore.
I was told to learn to speak English.
To abandon the language I knew.
I did not speak of my heritage,
It was better that I was kept from view.
I learned to cook like an American wife,
And soon I could speak like the rest.
It was difficult, but I learned how to fit in.
I even changed the way that I dressed.
Yo era una nina novia.
El era un hombre mayor.
I wanted to run away fast, go back home,
But nothing was there for me anymore.
These days, I spend keeping shop,
When the children are still at the school.
They are the heart of my life.
They are named Sally and Raul.
The nights are the hardest to get through.
I still dream of my other life,
Before I was given to my husband.
But I love him now, I am his wife.
But,
I remember when -
Yo era una nina novia.
El era un hombre mayor.
I wanted to run away fast, go back home,
But nothing was there for me anymore.
One of my most creative endeavors, Nina Novia is my first attempt at folk-tale poetry that is patially in Spanish. It took some effort because I am not exceptionally bi-lingual. You might read in the comments where I was inspired to explain her having to deny her heritage to fit into her new American life. At that time she is vulnurable, but it is a testimate to her strength that she endures. But in her regailment her Spanish becomes deminished, except in her recounting her past. That part was writen and added april 29th, when I read the comments and realized there was a gap in her story. I hope it translates well, and is well recieved. I hope it makes more sense. Now, I think it should be a ballad. I wrote and posted the original on April 27, 2015.