Poetry by MJ Santiago

B'Elanna Torres Dreams of Being Human

                 and sometimes so do I
 
When I can’t sleep I research other hybrids. Find what’s next and map
the ridges on her skull. Line up anger by degrees, one by one delete
the sequences that make me want to crush the little faces of my classmates
                                              that my father ran from, making
the body less brown than alien.
The alien less human than girl.
 
When I dream I remember how they finally broke the girl from my alien
and said that the girl came first. Left the alien on the table
                              speaking slowly through pointed teeth, jaw clenched
 
able to be killed and reinstalled to make me (human) braver.
Without her, I was smoother. Retrace the steps:
                                                Could they have put the girl back in her?
 
It’s always night in space so I can always talk to the stars.
I tell them I’ll spend the rest of my life fighting
                                               without the alien,
                                               I’d have nothing left
                                               worth hiding anyway.

Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres, Star Trek: Voyager, via TrekCore

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Originally from Florida, MJ Santiago currently lives in Brooklyn with two very round cats. Their work has appeared in Reservoir Lit, Heavy Feather Review, Tinderbox Poetry Journal and No, Dear Magazine.