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By Sarah A. Chavez

In childhood Christy and I played in the dumpster across the street
from Pickett & Sons Construction. When we found bricks, it was best.
Bricks were most useful. We drug them to our empty backyard
and stacked them in the shape of a room. For months
we collected bricks, one on top another. When the walls
reached as high as my younger sister’s head, we laid down.
Hiding in the middle of our room, we watched the cycle
of the sun, gazed at the stars, clutched hands and felt at home.


Poem copyright ©2011 by Sarah A. Chavez. Reprinted by permission of Sarah A. Chavez.

  • Living
  • Relationships

Poet Bio

Sarah A. Chavez
Sarah A. Chavez was born and raised in the California Central Valley. Chavez earned a PhD in English with a focus in poetry and Ethnic Studies from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her work, which often foregrounds issues of mestizaje, Chicanidad, and the performance of ethnicity and gender, can be found in North American Review, The Fourth River, Luna Luna Magazine, and So to Speak: Feminist Journal of Language and Art, among other journals and anthologies. She is a visiting assistant professor at Marshall University, where she also serves as the coordinator for the A.E. Stringer Visiting Writers Series. She is a proud member of the Macondo Writers Workshop. See More By This Poet

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