Victoria Bañales
Victoria (Vicky) Bañales is the 2025-2027 Watsonville Poet Laureate. A Chicanx educator and writer, she is the author of the poetry collection, The Sun Will Not Harm You by Day, Nor the Moon by Night (Jamii Publishing, 2025), and the founder of Journal X, a social justice literary arts magazine, which was awarded the Superior Distinction by the National Council of Teachers of English. Her writing appears in numerous journals and anthologies and has been supported by artist residencies, including Hedgebrook, Storyknife, Macondo, and the Vermont Studio Center, among others. She holds a Ph.D. in Literature and Feminist Studies from UCSC, and teaches composition and creative writing at Cabrillo College, where she also serves as the Faculty Senate President. The proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, she now calls Watsonville home, having transplanted from Santa Barbara, CA. More at vickybanales.com.
X Is for Xinachtli
X marks the spot
—a place of hidden treasure
where gems and jewels abound
inside beating chests
Chicanx
Latinx
Hermanx
Malcolm X
Mexican
Blaxican
Mixteco
Mixteado
X is Native
Asian, and Black
—it’s where we
got your back
X is a cross on which we hang our sorrows
a crossbones, a crossroads
an equation, a multiplication
a crossing out—nah, you got that all wrong
a correction—here, let me fix that
it’s the righting of wrongs
and the writing of rights
X is a mark
a signature
a record, a print
a check off a list
X is a vote, a tally
a locking of arms
at a BLM rally
dreaming with dreamers
who are AB540
X is a ray that peers into the soul,
beyond raw flesh and broken bone
a crosshair that wounds
an echo that tears
it’s the crossed bandolier
that the soldaderas wear
X is for X-men who
resist colonization
fight discrimination
refuse annihilation
—Professor X,
Storm, Mystique,
Cyclops and Beast
X is a kiss at the end of a greeting
it’s the DNA of all human beings
—women and men,
Gen Z or Gen X
transgender or intersexed
it’s the X of our sex
maybe a fling with your ex
rated G or triple X
X is the Xtra tamal
and Modelo Especial
that you had on Xmas day
It’s the X in Xtra large
Double X and Xtra small
petite or big ‘n tall
X is for intersections
and intersectionalities
it’s for extraordinary, exceptional
and expialidocious
X is for xinachtli—
a seed that germinates
expressions of word and art
voice and heart, light and dark
of every shade, new and in between
a way to create, a way to be seen
First published in Xinachtli Journal/Journal X (2021)
Reflection Questions:
How do words for identities hold power? Is there an identity term that feels particularly powerful for your experience?
The Poet Guardians
the poet guardians hold the master key—
skeleton; clutch it tight in their nimble hands
stand like sentinels at the pearly gates
ask for papers, check credentials
approve or deny residencies
scour and secure points of entry
don night goggles, camouflage, badges
thespians of thesaurus; without permission
cringe, scoff at lines, prowl for words
cock a snook, sit atop clouds
applaud digressions: celebrate bees and trees
seek sublime ethereal beauty
condemn digressions: sting the tongue
too much color, too personal, too prosaic
sanitized and clean, they wash their hands
rules must be obeyed or remain outside the gates
wardens and guardians share an etymology
a dream deferred is nothing new
we will
skirt the gates
like thieves
in the night
Originally published in The Sun Will Not Harm You by Day, Nor the Moon by Night by Victoria Bañales (Jamii, 2025)
Reflection Questions:
Who are the guardians and gatekeepers in the the literary community? Who is let in; who is kept out?
Do you agree with these decisions? Why or why not? What would you like to read more of?
What is the difference between a guardian and a gatekeeper?
Who gets to decide?
What other territories define your community?