• By Dr. Carmen Tafolla, State Poet Laureate of Texas in 2015  • IDRA Newsletter • August 2025 •

Read at the funeral of Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel

…

Amidst the darkest rumble of storms,

the most tangled web of problems,

the saddest of injusticias

and fear for the future of our children,

there was always

Cuca

un rayo de luz dorada

a golden light warming us,

but strong as steel

unyielding and inspiring,

invigorating us to pick up

the pen

the phone

the file of papers

the speech

the action

the example

the legal brief

the vote

the lucha

…

to pick up our hearts

our dreams

and continue la lucha

with a smile…

…

SHE was our comadre,

SHE was our laser weapon of golden light,

strong and fearless, precise, brilliant and unconquerable,

focused always, with kindness and courage, on our children.

Saying, Every child is valuable. None is expendable.

Teaching us how to teach, teaching us how to lead,

teaching us how to fight.

***

At times of loss,

at moments of grief

at the crossing of counter-roads and chaos,

there are always invitations to succumb to fear,

to abandon hope,

while standing, shivering bravely, on holy ground.

But light always comes,

Sometimes with the dawn,

or a new answer,

Sometimes in the softness of a friend’s eyes,

or the gentle power of whispered words.

Comadres sigh, put on their shawls, or their chanclas,

or pick up their bolsa, a bag of hierbitas, or a folder of papers,

to go out, to do the work that comadres have always done.

***

And now, we pause, pained and uncertain,

as we prepare to gather, to grieve, to remember,

to carry on the fight, to seek strength

from our remaining comadres and compadres,

colegas, estudiantes, y maestros.

I turn to mi comadre, and ask

¿Pos qué hacemos?

We sigh, reach for our shawls, our papers, our keys,

and take another step forward.

…

We are ready

To pick up the pen, the project, the lucha

with a smile

To take purposeful thoughts sprinkled across a page,

And to spread them across a lifetime.

To take the stories, the lives, the causas, the principles,

words of guidance y carácter,

and the memories we yearn to share with others.

We will turn them into action, Cuca.

We will turn them into life.

Life that, like you, Cuca,

will always be

¡PRESENTE!

[© 2025, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the August edition of the IDRA Newsletter. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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