La llorona

Nephtalí De León is a USA born and raised Chicano former migrant worker that became a Poet/Painter/Author/and Playwright. He has been published in several countries with his poetry translated into twelve languages. Growing up in the cauldron of borderland conflicts between USA and Mexico, by the edge of the river that divides both countries, the Rio Grande, he is no stranger to the myths, legends, and stories that form the world view of his multicultural native people. Present day native American migrants have been labeled and treated as strangers in their ancient homelands. Those who appropriated their lands now call them illegals, undocumented invaders. They administer their presence with such legal definitions in the courts of their own invention. It is in this arena that the author presents a timeless legend of a tortured and maligned spirit that refuses to die. The legend begins 500 years ago, when invaders first came to the American continent. Reality went beyond surreal, and the Victim became the Culprit, was punished and condemned to wander unto eternity in hopeless pain for her crime, the worst any one can be accused of –the drowning of her own children! This centuries old legend is very much alive. Everybody knows her name – La Llorona.