La Mujer de Los Nopales

Published by Latin@ Literatures in March 2023.

Note: this story briefly references an act of violence.

Excerpt from La Mujer de Los Nopales:

If I close my eyes and remain still, I can hear the cactus grow. A low hum emanates from deep within the earth and makes its way to the outer ends of the succulent. The soil around me cracks as this unseen force thrusts upward like an invisible hand reaching for the sun. Its urgency reminds me of the rage with which a child is born–determined to enter the world, tearing open its mother just to exist–and I am frightened. Yet when I open my eyes to gaze upon the miraculous event, the cactus appears as before, unchanged.

Read "La Mujer de Los Nopales" here (external link to Latin@ Literatures' website).

Photo credit: Alizee Marchand