Copyright © Gericault DeLa Rose, 2021.
Have you ever felt eaten by a gaze
Eyes lick your body up and down?
Trying to decide if you’re worth a bite; a swallow?
My skin was chicharron, golden brown
Something to crunch on before the main course
Always a milky, bone, white
Back home we dose our food in vinegar
But my mom also drenched my body in it
She said it was to make me feel better
If you showed me a mirror
I would never see myself as appetizing
Always thought of myself as overcooked
I always hated pork rinds
The way they coated your tongue with this oily residue
High cholesterol was the least of my worries
Now I refuse to be a snack
Nutrient deficient, empty in calories
I’d rather burn, then spoil myself raw
Have you ever even tried Lechon, the whole bounty?
If people don't want to eat me
They can starve
Eyes lick your body up and down?
Trying to decide if you’re worth a bite; a swallow?
My skin was chicharron, golden brown
Something to crunch on before the main course
Always a milky, bone, white
Back home we dose our food in vinegar
But my mom also drenched my body in it
She said it was to make me feel better
If you showed me a mirror
I would never see myself as appetizing
Always thought of myself as overcooked
I always hated pork rinds
The way they coated your tongue with this oily residue
High cholesterol was the least of my worries
Now I refuse to be a snack
Nutrient deficient, empty in calories
I’d rather burn, then spoil myself raw
Have you ever even tried Lechon, the whole bounty?
If people don't want to eat me
They can starve
Copyright © Gericault DeLa Rose, 2021.
I don't care what anyone says
Farmed fish tastes just the same as wild caught
The price difference all a marketing ploy
Your definition of exotic depends on what you consider ubiquitous
Or how adventurous your palette is
When I was a kid, my mom just told me to eat
You don’t ask questions when starved
And Ive been on the menu as long as I can remember
It’s funny how I always get tossed back after the hook pierced my mouth
How society taught me freshness was my only desirable quality
That I had to be used by certain expiration date
Until I realized about the process of fermentation
How taste can develop over time
That over time, a process of chemical reactions, ideal temperatures, and refinement
Can even enhance my flavor
What if my body, the flesh under my skin,
Is not meant to be served immediately
I never knew that you were supposed to let your meat rest
Surf and Turf is what I am, fish and meat
If you’re having trouble deciding which dish to order
Ask yourself, how hungry am I?
Farmed fish tastes just the same as wild caught
The price difference all a marketing ploy
Your definition of exotic depends on what you consider ubiquitous
Or how adventurous your palette is
When I was a kid, my mom just told me to eat
You don’t ask questions when starved
And Ive been on the menu as long as I can remember
It’s funny how I always get tossed back after the hook pierced my mouth
How society taught me freshness was my only desirable quality
That I had to be used by certain expiration date
Until I realized about the process of fermentation
How taste can develop over time
That over time, a process of chemical reactions, ideal temperatures, and refinement
Can even enhance my flavor
What if my body, the flesh under my skin,
Is not meant to be served immediately
I never knew that you were supposed to let your meat rest
Surf and Turf is what I am, fish and meat
If you’re having trouble deciding which dish to order
Ask yourself, how hungry am I?
Copyright © Gericault DeLa Rose, 2021.
My immigrant parents were born different
Surrounded by pungent salty seas
Deep under an unforgivable pressure
They grew up with their shells hardened
Learned to numb any physical pain
Only allowing themselves to feel their insides boiling
They tried to toughen me up
Attempted to inflict the same calluses
But my skin was too soft
Each bout of discipline creating temporary scars
That were easy to hide within myself
And yet, I never forgot where they appeared
Blue crab tastes better when you cook them alive
And that was their method of parenting
Each mistake I made met with the scalding heat of their hands
A recipe passed down each generation
The secret ingredient being an improvisation of trauma
It tasted like shit
It’s funny how they’re so concerned about how fragile I appear
As if my brilliantly colored exterior is not a warning to predators
I’m fine with vulnerability
Surrounded by pungent salty seas
Deep under an unforgivable pressure
They grew up with their shells hardened
Learned to numb any physical pain
Only allowing themselves to feel their insides boiling
They tried to toughen me up
Attempted to inflict the same calluses
But my skin was too soft
Each bout of discipline creating temporary scars
That were easy to hide within myself
And yet, I never forgot where they appeared
Blue crab tastes better when you cook them alive
And that was their method of parenting
Each mistake I made met with the scalding heat of their hands
A recipe passed down each generation
The secret ingredient being an improvisation of trauma
It tasted like shit
It’s funny how they’re so concerned about how fragile I appear
As if my brilliantly colored exterior is not a warning to predators
I’m fine with vulnerability
About the Artist
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Gericault De La Rose is a queer Filipinx, multidisciplinary artist, and educator. Through performance and video work, she uses her brown body as an amulet against the plague of forgetting within a postcolonial world that reinforces collective amnesia. After graduating with a BFA with an emphasis in Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she formed an artist collective, Export Quality, together with other Queer Filipinx alumni. As an emerging artist, De La Rose has had the opportunity to showcase her work in group shows in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Johnson City, New York, and Toronto. In collaboration with AFIRE Chicago, Export Quality, was awarded the Crossroads Youth Fund for Cultural Change to support her documentary series Nakikita. De La Rose recently attended the ACRE residency in Steuben, Wisconsin having received the Brenda Green Gender Inclusivity Scholarship.
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