Defining Sister

By Trista Dominiqu

Before she knew I was
there my mother was
thrown in jail overnight
for pushing a cop who
put hands on my aunt
in the parking lot of
Superior Market.

My aunt was drunk in
public and the officer
became aggressive when
trying to grab hold of her.
My mother saw this when
leaving the store. She
watched as he squeezed
her sisters wrists, and the
only thought she had was,
“Don’t you fucking touch
my sister!”, and with
that my mother was the
one being cuffed.

As the car drove away my
aunt sat there and sang,
“Hey, Hey, bye, bye, rock
and roll will never die.”
This was in the beginning
of my creation when these
women still knew the
definition of sister.