The Genealogy of Café con Leche
Written by Kiara Valera, Edited by Ellie Brewster
The simplicity
Of Cafe con Leche es mas rica
Café tiene melanina
A brown so rich it becomes
a Black so dark that it glows
The coffee planted by my ancestors
Become the grounds of my history
Una taza de café negro tiene un sabor amargo
It’s too dark
Dicen “hay que poner leche”
But how much milk
makes café negro
Too light?
“Échale azucar, lo hará mas dulce”
Pero ellos no saben que la azucar
makes a cup of coffee too complacent
Todavía
es amargo
“¿como puedes beberlo asi?
Échale mas leche y azucar”
But I’ve replaced my brown sugar for gun powder
The cup is hot
Steam wafting up into the air
Resembling the dances of my ancestors on
The plantation
My fingertips are burning
Dissolving any traces of the motherland
The coffee table cannot grant me any relief
La mesa de centro stands decorated with
Reposasvasos, statues, and pictures
“No quiero manchar la mesa
Usa la mesilla”
But how am I to enjoy coffee
If I cannot use the coffee table
Una taza de café fresco es muy caliente
It’s too hot
Pusé leche
Y azucar tambien
Mejorando la café
Adelantando la raza
La taza llena de dos historias becoming
A brew of miscegenation
The ambiguity of Café con Leche
makes them uncomfortable
But the genealogy of coffee with milk
Is only as complex as
It’s two ingredients