Self-Determination Theory, and: Propaganda Ghazal

Abstract

Self-Determination Theory, and: Propaganda Ghazal Leslie Sainz (bio) Self-Determination Theory “There is something in this native land business and you cannot get away from it.” —Gertrude Stein I sit in the living room,in the living roommy mother chokeson something cold and sharp.I launch an investigation:She is wearing a blue cotton shirt.Her shoulders are showing.The television is hush.I conclude she is strugglingwith a unique idea.One she should keep.Just like that, sparks. Reds,whites. It is the saviormother calls U.S.!U.S. placeshis arms around her abdomenand applies sudden upwardpressure. She heaves.The volumeof the not-news channelrises, and the sound alertsmy father in the kitchen.To enter the living room,my father muststep over the bodies ofother Spanish-speaking men.He does so with ease.I weep in the living room,in the living room [End Page 161] my father watches U.S.grope my mother,and though he is a jealous man,he says nothingbecause he, too,accepts no other touch. [End Page 162] Propaganda Ghazal Father repeats a Yanquis saying about history, its wrong side.In fear of comeuppance, I eat so much I can only sleep on my side. For years I thought our guts looked like unupholstered chairs.That this unlearning would be a larger spectacle, a bright side. AMERICAWake-Up the bazooka blasts are cartoon tomatoes.I line up the lies like handholding children—side by side by side. FIDEL CASTRO is a threat to the peace of the Western Hemisphere!For an eye-catching poster, use the color wheel’s opposite sides. I didn’t fuck the woman with the Che Guevara print above herbed. Instead, I let her pin new atrocities to my damp, right side. [End Page 163] Leslie Sainz Leslie Sainz is a first generation Cuban-American, born and raised in Miami, Florida. The recipient of a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, she received her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work has appeared in Kenyon Review Online, AGNI, jubilat, Narrative, Black Warrior Review, and others. A two-time National Poetry Series finalist, she’s received scholarships, fellowships, and honors from CantoMundo, The Miami Writers Institute, the Adroit Journal, and The Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts at Bucknell University. Copyright © 2021 Middlebury college