grandma wanted to make
tamalitos de chipilín

in the United States
chipilín is considered

a noxious weed.
yet another thing

that is invading
from beyond its borders.

it is dehiscent.
and when a plant

is dehiscent
it makes it difficult

to collect their seeds.
dehiscence is the act

of splitting.
the bursting open

of a pod
or a wound.

the flower dries up
ripping themselves open

to spit or spill themselves
wherever the wind may take it.

immortality
disguised as a seam

sami h. tripp has lived in Minowakiing (“Milwaukee”) since 2013. They read once that, in Kaqchikel, poetry translates to “braid of words,” and like to believe they’re honoring ancestors (past and present) by braiding seemingly unlike things together. A historian and poet, they consider themselves to be a real-life bard.