My Lola

When I was younger,

My lola would take me everywhere

We’d go to get groceries

and drop food off at her friends houses

We’d get food when I was hungry

and when I wasn’t hungry

and every week, we’d go to the parlor

“Kamusta auntie!” my little self would say

I would take her hand and bring it to my forehead

and my Lola would nod in approval

I would get a sucker and sit in one of the pedicure chairs

Sometimes, i’d even get my own nails done

Most of the time I’d sit there and read or play with my dolls

My lola would get her perm and her manicure and pedicure 

It was a routine

A part of her month she’d never miss

When I got older, she really liked the way my hair looked

She asked me what shampoo I used

So her hair might look like mine

Might look the way she liked

Once, we went dress shopping

We were invited to a wedding

And after every dress she tried on;

She’d ask my aunt,

“Does this dress make me look phat?”

In my freshman year she got her eyebrows done

and that was when I realized

My lola is a girl too

She has looked in the mirror and seen things 

she doesn’t like about herself

She has tried to change

Paint on the canvas that is her face

the canvas is beautiful blank

and buy clothes to fit herself into 

instead of clothes that fit her

It’s just a thing that girls do apparently

But it breaks my heart that my lola is a girl just as much as I am