The Law of Conservation

Words by Genesis Isla Marisol
Art by Ivanna Haag

Growing up deep in the heart of darkness, where the stars at night shine
big and bright like the flashlight she used to read under her colcha,

she never imagined going to college or even getting a high school degree;
mama encouraged her instead to marry young and start a family

Understanding the Law of Conservation, she quit the gig economy
to study theoretical physics, math, and astronomy until she had earned three degrees,  taken multiple trips to space, and received tenur
 at the Institute for Advanced Studies

And yet, this inquisitive woman from the barrio struggled
to make some semblance of sense out of the nonsense
that was her childhood

Each month when she wrote a check to her mama, she saw
her face scolding her with that familiar refrain: “a ningún hombre
le gusta estar con mujer más poderosa que él”

Pues, no se que decirte, mami - I refuse to make myself any smaller than I already am  within this vast and indifferent universe I will keep reaching through hardship  to the stars until I am as powerful and all knowing as your beloved Jehova dios

I will ride out into the geomagnetic storm, furiously crossing
that boundless threshold 

into the deep folds of unified fields, tucking in my colchita
as I lay back to enter cryosleep