Born Bad

(erasure poem, taken from Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street)

Vicky Vargas Mojanoff

I will go to hell most likely,

My mother says.

Because of Lupe.

She was pretty. Dark.

Good to look at.

Swimmer’s legs.

Lupe.

Sick from the disease.

The bones. The bottles.

A thirsty lady,

The swimmer.

Imagine her,

clean,

not bent, not drowning.

Naked.

I don't know who decides to go bad.

There was no evil in her.

Wicked

was

me.

It could be true,

or maybe

the story that she think,

But I think

In her funny felt

one hand

in the other.

Sometimes you get used to the sick,

and the sickness.

This is how it was,

and this is why I think

it was me.

You had to pick somebody.

Vicky Vargas Mojanoff (they/them or she/her) is a poet, graphic artist, and illustrator from Southern California looking to breach the divide between these mediums and create something within that space that is fully their own. They explore topics such as queer self acceptance, spirituality, grief & loss, and the human experience in their work. You can find them at @vicky.vargas.m on instagram.