The Genealogy of Café con Leche

Written by Kiara Valera, Edited by Ellie Brewster

Diet by Kellie Swensen

The simplicity 

Of Cafe con Leche es mas rica

Café tiene melanina

A brown so rich it becomes 

a Black so dark that it glows 

The coffee planted by my ancestors 

Become the grounds of my history

Una taza de café negro tiene un sabor amargo 

It’s too dark

Dicen  “hay que poner leche”

But how much milk

makes café negro 

Too light?

“Échale azucar, lo hará mas dulce”

Pero ellos no saben que la azucar 

makes a cup of coffee too complacent

Todavía 

es amargo 

“¿como puedes beberlo asi?

Échale mas leche y azucar” 

But I’ve replaced my brown sugar for gun powder

The cup is hot

Steam wafting up into the air

Resembling the dances of my ancestors on

The plantation 

My fingertips are burning 

Dissolving any traces of the motherland

The coffee table cannot grant me any relief 

La mesa de centro stands decorated with

Reposasvasos, statues, and pictures

“No quiero manchar la mesa

Usa la mesilla” 

But how am I to enjoy coffee

If I cannot use the coffee table 

Una taza de café fresco es muy caliente 

It’s too hot 

Pusé leche

Y azucar tambien

Mejorando la café

Adelantando la raza

La taza llena de dos historias becoming

A brew of miscegenation 

The ambiguity of Café con Leche 

makes them uncomfortable

But the genealogy of coffee with milk

Is only as complex as

It’s two ingredients