​​Alejandra Hernández
​

The Day I realized we were gods --

​Anita taught me to pour salt on slugs,
watch them sizzle up, chemical burns,
& in wanting love, I did as she asked.
I never asked if their bodies felt pain
the way I did — salt on my food, salt
on my wounds. Pain, unamused --
they boiled over, seasoned & golden.
I held many secrets under my tongue.
The sun swept through in a rush. &
Nana called us to the house, pushing
away what wasn’t meant for us; We
were holiness, a repetition in prayer,
the faces she remembered even after
forgetting our names, her heirlooms.

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Alejandra Hernández is a queer, Mexican-American poet from San Diego, California. They are the Production Editor for Poetry International Online, the editor of Hot Wheels & High Heels, and the producer of the Poetry International Podcast. Alejandra also founded a high school poetry club at their alma mater. Their work has been published in Mantis Literary Journal and Azahares, with a forthcoming poem in Zone 3. Their writing explores themes of family, identity, and belonging.