My Beast

by Susan Ayres


Pancho,

I hear you have evaded Black Jack. News has reached
us of your New Mexico raid. The people sing a new corrido—

Our Mexico, on February 23^rd
Carranza let Americans cross the border,
10,000 soldiers, 600 airplanes,
looking for Villa, wanting to kill him.

Sometimes I believe you are a beast. 
When I shaved your moon face I thought
the razor could slip, slice the soft hollow

under your chin. Today
I am busying my hands making the flan
and pan dulce you love.

Your wife,
Petra
March 1916


* * * * *

Author's note: This poem is part of a project about the wives of Mexican Revolution war hero, Pancho Villa. One of the earlier wives he married in Parral was Petra Espinosa. According to historian Haldeen Braddy, Pancho Villa raped Petra, who learned to both fear and desire him. 

Susan Ayres is a poet, lawyer, and translator. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in a wide variety of literary and scholarly journals including Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Sycamore Review, Cimarron Review, and Valparaiso Review. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and teaches at Texas A&M University Law School. Her chapbook is Walk Like the Bird Flies (FLP 2023). Visit www.psusanayres.com.