“Am I capturing all of history in this gesture?” Am I the Hamlet of Miami to Havana’s Hemingway? Am I “covering” my parents like a bottlecap twisted tight or like an ambivalent independent journalist? Am I writing a “manifesto” of two minds? To have and have not a memory box of matrilineal sonnets. To be or not to be on the right side of geopolitical hindsight. Forgive me for not following. Leslie’s mission is to rescue the FOX News generation from their proxy state’s proxy wars. She does and she doesn’t have the stomach for it. She’ll get shitfaced and reflect “poorly.” She’ll provide perspective on what it means to “defect.” She’ll claim her place at the table, share meals and tell stories, but also be able to negotiate family business. Feminize the cemeteries. Declare fidelity to oregano. Give a climate context to regime change. Conjugate sea dreams and threat displays. Wear a many-colored beret. Have You Been Long Enough at Table by Leslie Sainz (Tin House, 2023).
