Priceless

Poem by Julia Alvarez

my body has a price tag

it’s worth depends on who you ask

ask the television set,

and they’ll tell you

it’s worth one skin tight dress,

a flash of cleavage and they’ll even pay double

show a little leg mamacita

and anyone will take you for a spin

isn’t that what you want?

ask this campus, this university

and they’ll tell you

it’s valued at 4.8

the percentage of Latinx students on this campus

ask again, and they’ll tell you it’s worth one or two brown faces, used for pamphlets and propaganda

valued only when they benefit this school,

silenced in

every

other

situation

why would we be unhappy with what we get, when we’re given so much?

ask any man,

and he’ll tell you

it’ll cost one closed mouth

used for sucking and fucking

but nothing else

what good is a woman when she speaks?

my body has a price tag

but these tags have been weathered and worn

and the dress i call my skin is starting to rebel against the holes they have created,

the missing pieces in my psyche,

the lack of balance in my soul

sometimes i wish i could hang up my skin

shrug it off like a coat that doesn’t match the outfit underneath

take it out for a spin only when it’s too cold to go without it

but this, this is the price I pay to inhabit a body spun of the softest of fabrics

stitched together by my ancestors with

only the strongest of threads gold mined just for me

so, go ahead

add the tax tonight,

i’m paying full price.

to me, it’s worth it.

to me, i am worth it.