to the owner of the tamale place across from my tia’s house

by Bianca Alyssa Pérez

patron saint of masa, thick morena hands 

feeding hector & juanita & adrianna & francisco & gloria & maria & guadalupe & 

all the kids hanging out by the swings at the parque named after a patron saint

Patron saint of drive thru lined by 

a lawn worker that owns his own side business & 

the state rep missing her mom’s cooking 

& a single mom with three kids 

& an abuelita who lost her husband to pancreatic cancer (for 47 years, his order was bean and

cheese with red salsa)

She, tamale Tonantzin, blesses this flock

Patron saint of Latine households during christmas eve & new years 

& anytime the weather drops below 75 degrees —

the warmth from her kitchen spread out thick on 3 mile line in el valle

all praises, all praises 

Patron saints were just human once too & 

at 4 am every morning, I imagine she ties her shoelaces on the New Balances her daughter

gifted for her 74th birthday & whispers her prayers to the rising sun

she stretches & the ache in her knee bangs — 

a devil’s knock on the small wooden door of her body

Before leaving her home, she kisses the photo of el bendito niño wedged at the top of the light

switch, right next to a cross made from palm tree that her cuñis gave her three easters ago

She walks across the street to the tamale place she opened with her husband when everything

was cheaper but nambre, she can’t let go of it now       she doesn’t want to prove her suegra

right (bless her soul) 

& her grandson, Junior, is already there prepping the meat & the cars are lining up & the truck

driver is pulling in with more masa & a cold front is right around the corner 

& when it’s my turn to speak to her through the confessional window that is the drive-thru, she

will listen & not judge (not even when I tell her if she can put extra ketchup packets in the bag),

she will ask how my mamita is doing & “tu marido, hija, cómo está?” &

when I pull away she will as always bless me with a dios de bendiga, mija