You were the remedy–
fierce and destructive,
destroying life
like Hurricane Maria,
doling out blows to your children
with unyielding winds,
battering hope.

She was expected
to be the success story,
the one to get you out of
‘this damn town’;
The favorite,
the light-skinned daughter,
with good grades
and good hair like a Puerto Rican.

Forget a harvest.
You salted the land.