this next one is for my Chaparrita.

alone and voiceless

i feel you in my 28 year old body,
on my skin,
wrapped around my bones.

i feel the thunder in your chest
and the darkness in your eyes

consumed with fear and loss of direction.

i am now in your coat,
i wear your 1990 suit.

it fits like a glove,
a mirror i never thought i'd see.

slender and curvy,
and hugged in all the right places.

wiping away the tears,
i snap out of it and i hold my head up high,
i put on her favorite lipstick and become the woman i've admired all my life.

Strong and so well-poised,
i slip into her darkest days,
never realizing I was living her 24th year.