Spencer X. Rico

BIO

Spencer X. Rico is a Chicanx poet and undergraduate studying English and Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis. Rico has served as an editor for Open Ceilings Magazine, and a cast member of the UC Davis EOP “How We Rose” poetry series about first generation student experiences and storytelling. Rico is also in the UC Davis Creative Writing Honors Program. Rico’s work has been featured in Columbia University’s Latino Heritage Month Magazine, Open Ceilings Magazine, Protest Through Poetry, and elsewhere.

Instagram:  @spencerxrico

Kinetic Energy

When my father was young,
He chewed on and cleared rows of caña
Hasta fue al norte,
Trabajando como un campesino de la urbana,
Stooped over engine bays and picking nuts
From studs like berries from stems,
With energy from food de la granja,
My grandfather was a Bracero 

In Tejas, my uncle was a Bracero
And traveled back and forth with him
Until they found jobs in the East Bay
Driving trucks, working mops, working
Weight, Working 
Towards the seventh day 

Where the elotero poured agua fresca
And the children sucked on paletas
In the open breath of the church courtyard,
To wait their turn to wake up
At 4am and go to work.
Energy dribbling 

Down like the sun over the leaves,
Like food over a baby’s lips,
Energy stooped on brown necks,
Energy stooped over dreams, mobilized
By sequencing bodies: 

A corpse,
a field, an engine bay, a poem,
A corpse.

© The Acentos Review 2022