at Length
The Cats of Old San Juan
The cats of Old San Juan are not native though they were born here.
They are not native though being native is not a measure of belonging.
The cats are here because of the rats.
The rats are here because of the Americans.
The Americans were here because of the Spanish.
The Spanish were here because fuck the Spanish.
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The colony of cats has been on the Paseo del Morro since the 1950s.
The cats are fed and protected.
The cats are loved, more or less.
The cats are photographed.
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The Paseo del Morro is a rocky promenade by the sea.
The Paseo passes under the walls of Old San Juan.
The walls are there because of the Spanish.
The Spanish were there because of Ponce de León (no relation).
Ponce de León was there because of Cristóbal Colón.
Colón was there because fuck Colón.
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In 2004 the Paseo del Morro was renovated to be more amenable to tourists and joggers.
The cats were not considered tourists though they are not native.
The cats were getting in the way of the joggers.
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The city was going to euthanize the cats.
The city was going to euthanize the cats.
But the cats are loved.
The cats are photographed.
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Some locals started a project to save the cats.
They called the project Save-a-Gato.
Save-a-Gato is neither English nor Spanish.
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Save-a-Gato manages the colony of cats.
They manage the colony through a strategy of TNR.
TNR stands for “trap, neuter, release.”
This is considered humane.
It was the alternative to being euthanized.
Being euthanized was also considered humane.
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“Humane” is from Latin.
It means “to act like a human.”
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Save-a-Gato has been managing the colony since 2004.
Save-a-Gato is volunteer-based.
You can donate.
You can adopt a cat from Old San Juan today.
Visit their Facebook page.
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Puerto Rico is managed by the US.
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Clarence Gamble, of the Proctor and Gamble family, set up twenty-two birth control clinics on the island in the 1930s.
These clinics practiced sterilization.
The sterilizations were either voluntary or not.
Clarence Gamble was a eugenicist.
Clarence Gamble wanted to breed out poor people.
Puerto Ricans are a poor people.
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In the 1950s Clarence Gamble connected an American named Gregory Pincus with Puerto Rican women.
These women were not told they were participating in an experimental drug trial.
Pincus came to test birth control, which was illegal on the mainland.
The women were given ten times the modern dose of progesterone.
17% experienced serious side effects.
At least three women died.
The deaths were not investigated.
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By the 1960s almost 34% of Puerto Rican women were sterilized.
This was considered humane.
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My grandmother left Puerto Rico in the 1950s.
Her family left because they were poor, not because they were being sterilized.
They left because they knew they were poor, not because they knew they were being sterilized.
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Her name is Alicia Sanchez.
She was strong and stubborn and cruel. She taught me how to swear in Spanish. I loved her very much.
She doesn’t remember me now.
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The nursing home in Tampa tells us she is known for being childish.
Every now and then she bites someone.
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People say there are more Puerto Ricans on the mainland than are on Puerto Rico.
This is true.
It is also true that there are more Puerto Ricans that do not exist than do exist.
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The native taíno people were subjugated in one of the most successful genocides in recorded history.
Some estimate that three million were killed between 1492 and 1518.
In 1518 came smallpox.
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Puerto Ricans are almost theoretical.
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Taíno is not what the taíno people called themselves.
Taíno is what the Spanish called them.
If you want to know what the taíno called themselves, just ask.
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There is a building at 51-57 Calle San José.
It’s on a hill. It’s very famous.
There’s a Puerto Rican flag painted on the door (“la puerta de la bandera”).
You can buy cheap paintings of it at souvenir shops.
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In 2016 the flag was painted black.
The flag was painted black in protest of PROMESA.
PROMESA stands for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.
This is neither English nor Spanish.
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PROMESA is a forced austerity act imposed by the US federal government.
It hands over management of Puerto Rico to the banks.
The banks are international.
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Fuck PROMESA.
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51-57 Calle San José is abandoned.
It’s been abandoned so long there is a tree growing through the roof.
The tree starts in the foyer and opens through the rafters.
It’s three stories tall.
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La puerta de la bandera is locked with rusty chain.
You can peer through the crack between the doors.
Inside is darkness.
Inside are cats.
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The cats do not belong there but belonging is not a measure of belonging.
David M. de León’s creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in places like AGNI, Indiana Review, PANK, Acentos, Pleiades, DIAGRAM, Best of the Net, and the anthology Até Mais: Until More. He is a senior editor at The Yale Review. Find him online at davidmdeleon.com and on twitter @davidmdeleon and find more of his poetry on At Length here.