latinosFROMchicago

Ester Hernandez - Immigrant Woman’s Dress

this dress, thin and translucent, hems and edges made heavy with the weight sewn in.
delicate stitches holding in all those coins.
making sure they don’t rattle, so no one knows what’s inside.
but it’s skin is translucent and thin.
silk organza.
that the light reveals all it’s worth.
pouches of gold beads.
and chili powder to defend the treasure
kept close to the body.
cold coins warming against the skin.
in the collar,
in the hem that scrapes the ground in the motion of a bent back.
and with time, the borders that the dress has crossed,
the promises sewn in with needle and thread.
mean much more than its contents.