Soy Mujer Cuando …

The author of this poem demonstrates the artistic, living power of empathetic imagination. “Soy Mujer Cuando . . . A Collective Poem” is a poetic excerpt from the theatre work Fronteras Desviadas/Deviant Borders. Bilingual in its conception and written in collaboration with the acting company known as Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro, the author composed the poem in a community-based process with women on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border in 2004. Conceptually, Soy Mujer Cuando comprises three parts as a recurrent thread throughout the poem. The first two parts incorporate the multiple voices of women from the community and the ensemble of collaborating artists.