BY JESSICA VALDEZ
my mother is a doctor
my mother is a doctor
my mother was born
of mexican dirt
clutching only her name
a fierceness
a softness
and a dream
“do you have any other doctors in your family?”
a question that you hear a lot within medical training
yes, i say. my mother.
not the kind you are thinking of.
you see,
my mother never graduated from medical school
family never had enough money or desire to put a woman through elementary school
so mama took matters into her own hands
got caught twice by immigration
before they let her in
to her home in california
my mother is a doctor
her voice sings stories
of the time when she was my age
of how much she loves her job
working as a house keeper
a home keeper
home healer
home doctor
doctor
my mother is a doctor
and i’ll tell you why
because a house is a home
and a home is a body
it is a place
not only physical
that houses
organs
a belly or a kitchen
a bedroom or a brain
a living room or a heart
what difference does it make?
my mother knows houses like the inside of her heart
she knows that clutter
disorganization
uncleanliness
and dysregulation
are disease
to this house, body
and knows exactly how to clean it
how to heal it
my mother is a doctor
that when disease actually hit my father’s body
my mother knew
before any doctor did
she knew
how to heal his soul
how to let him go
when his body
could not hold on
even a house
does not live forever
but the energy
the vibrance
can be felt
now at age 66
she still cleans
every body, home
still in awe of the breaking
of the healing
of the rising
of the human spirit
and the precious life that connects us all
this is the physician i aspire to be
Jessica Valdez is a Mexican-American poet and medical student living in San Francisco, CA.