☀ Today's Poem: "Etymology of Latin American Nursery Rhymes" Veronica Silva

i. toca la marcha. mi pecho llora
adiós señora. que ya me voy,
a mi casita de sololoy
As a child, it embarrassed me to see my dolls naked.
Sololoy: Phonetic sister of celluloid, used for synthetic
playthings. Especially Barbie's unslit— glossy mound
often mimicked but found only in prepubescenee. Of
biology, as in cell-body or genome. The first time
someone puts their mouth on me, I am not older than six.
Accidentally or not, I wet the bed. From Old French
celle, meaning room or chamber. I have never known
another name for release but shame. Related to Latin
celare: to cover or conceal. Around this age, I overhear
my grandmother say that children who remain silent are
responsible for their own abuse. I confuse the root sol for
solus and believe it to mean—little house of soliloquy.

ii.  ese lumar que tienes, cielito lindo,
junto a la boca
Lunar: a freckle—a slipped decimal, a rounding error.
An adult man says he bets I'll be hot when I'm older.
From Latin luna: What is the equation for orbital
distance? I am not older than 8 at the time, I was always
aimed toward collision.

iii. arroz con leche, me quiero casar
Casar: to marry. As young girls, my cousin and I find
out that our friend is being sexually harassed by her
stepfather. With a z, cazar means to chase, hunt, get.
When we tell my aunt, she says it's none of our business
what happens in other people's homes. Without the r,
casa means house. Hus, as in husband or hush, is
perhaps connected to the root of hide—that is, the skin of
an animal.

iv. dos y dos son cuatro, cuatro y dos son seis
seis y dos son ocho y ocho, dieciséis
Once, I tell a therapist, only because there is a required
questionnaire. She asks me if I did anything about it. I
say no. Two, as in twin, comes from the root dwo, found
in double or duplex. This is the first time it occurs to me
that if it happens again, it's on me. Six is twice three: as
in six feet under or three hundred and sixty degrees. He
has a daughter now. At sixes and sevens, originally
cinque and sice, meaning risk or disarray.

v. con una viudita de la capital
que sepa coser, que sepa bordar
   "Is she your friend?" A stranger points. Coser: To prick,
  puncture, stitch. No one at the bar is doing anything
  except watching, making their slow revolutions around
the scene on the dancefloor. Bordar: to circle, hem,
  fringe. Until someone else claims her, she is his— widow,
as in with or without, is related to words such as void
or divisible. I am almost grateful for the way boy 2 keeps
  slipping his palm under the back of my shirt. The Latin
  vidua, meaning widow, may share the root vid or vis with
words such as evidence or invisible. "Yes," I say, "yes,"
although she is not. I don't know that I would have said
  anything if I hadn't been caught—with needle, as in eye,
organ of sight. Weaving has always been women's
work—as in jab, cross, or hook.

vi. no se lo des a nadie, cielito lindo,
que a mi me toca
I call her Jessica or Crystal, pull on her arm, and ask her
to come to the restroom—something about tampons or
  lipstick. Her body is limp; his hands up her shirt and
  gripping her stomach. From Old French toche: attack or
blow. I thread my fingers through her elbows—to play,
my turn. Boy I gives me a shove—tag, you're it. My
  boot catches a beer can and I trip back into orbit. "Let's
go," boy 2 says. To be in or our of touch. "You can't
  negotiate with people like that." To sound—a bell or
drum. He thinks he is different from boy 1. Or was he
referring to her? To stroke, grope, prey. I am led into
a cab and then a bed. Touché.

vii. tengo una muñeca vestida de azul
con su camisita y su canesú
esta mañanita me dijo el doctor
que le dé jarabe con un tenedor
Sounds like tender: to have or hold. I roll away from
  him, onto my side. To divide in branches or go separate
ways. He puts something on the TV with a pre-recorded
laugh track. Of Old English forca or force, as in rivers
  or roads. The bedroom floods in flickering blue. I feel his
  hand on my hip and squirm away. To doctor also means
  to alter, disguise, foul play. "Are you ticklish?" he
  laughs, starting for my waist. I know boys do this
because it makes a joke out of touching me. A chess
  attack on two pieces: I am equally afraid to write this as I
am to keep it. "No, I'm not." I want to leave, but the
ceiling fan is spinning on its axis so fast that it looks
fixed. Every girl has something like this—to fork out or
  fork over.