STORE NEXT TO SEA


The Americans stock pile on beer
And they look so happy
And I am happy for them
Because they deserve it

Everybody deserves it
If they like to race let them race
And drink from those bottles
Filled with sunshine
Let them flee for their commercial bondage

As for me I’ll keep watch over
The extremely attractive girls
They enter & exit as I try to slice up poems

The tall one with penetrating eyes
Keeps looking my way
Locking her black pupils
With the eye of my heart

These girls are on a race of their own
And if I was the judge
I would give the grand prize
To the one sitting to my left
I like the way her eye liner flows
Over her native features

And they keep coming & going
Their esthetic brains working
Like day laborers just before a strike

Ah the one with fair skin
She wears the net on her legs
The net that will catch the imagination of men
And overthrow a multitude of principles

And the men look more afraid than the women
And the children look the happiest
Because they race with their imaginations
And their victories cause no damage
Neither hurt nor pain
The children triumphant &
Modification of our future

VOCABLOS


Salen de la boca
Como platillos voladores
Aterrizan en oídos ilusos
Ya casi es invierno pero hace calor

Taladran como bacterias en los tejidos
Amados como todo lo que hace daño
Como la anemia de los comercios

Los combatientes
Sufren el terror de la música a la moda
Modificación de sus fervientes ideas

Para la purificación
De sus materias primas
Y sus cuerpos
Danza el óleo sobre el lienzo

Una imagen no son 1000 palabras
Una palabra es un proyecto
Es la detención de tu atención
Un momento perdido de tu vida
La fatiga que te hace tomar asiento

GENUINE


Artificial thunder
Is not better
Than the real thing

It happens more often
And simulated damage
Is worse than
Organic hurt

If only the world
Would stop fighting
The reins of love

Everything could be
As pretty as
A regular life span

A crown
Is always a symbol

It represents
The will of some
Over the will of others

Monarchy vs ambition
Wall Street vs royalty

Destined to fade away
Like caprices
Of our tender age

I invoke you
Christ the carpenter

I beseech your working class practicality
Your holy simplicity

Oh how many tables & chairs you have built

Oh Craftsman of my spirit!
Master of my Mexican soul!

The times I have worshiped you
Your fiery glance
Was better than a thousand crowns

Numerous times you appeared
Sitting comfortably amongst the poor
As I admired the fine workmanship
Of the furniture

MUELLE


─ ¿Juan, no le tienes miedo al agua?
─ No.
─ ¿De veras?
─ De veras.
─ ¡Hay Juan! ¿Y ahorita que es de noche, no te da miedo?
─ No.
─ ¿Te echarías un clavado al mar?
─ ¿Contigo?
─ A mí me da miedo
─ No hay nada que temer… nos podemos poner un traje de buzo. Además, no hay corrientes fuertes.
─ Juan, no sé cómo le haces.
─ ¿Cómo hago qué cosa?
─ Las cosas que haces.
─ ¿Cuáles cosas?
─ Olvídalo.
─ Está bien.
─ ¿Quieres vivir conmigo?
─ ¿Vivir contigo?
─ Sí, conmigo.
─ Ya vivimos juntos
─ ¿Por qué dices eso?
─ Porque toda la humanidad vive junta.
─ No es cierto.
─ Sí, todos vivimos juntos en el mismo planeta.
─ ¿Estás jugando conmigo?
─ No.
─ Te tengo.
─ ¿Qué tienes?
─ Te tengo a ti.
─ Sí, tienes mi amistad.

ORILLA


Dijo:
Tú eres
El poeta laureado
De los alienígenas
Y le dije:
También puedo meterme
Dentro de pájaros
Y volar hasta
Las ventanas
De hermosas doncellas
Y preguntó
¿Eres un poeta maldito?
Y le dije:
No
Soy un maldito poeta

TODAS LAS RAZONES DEL MUNDO

A S.P.

Te escucho en mis sueños
Te escucho en mí caminar
Te escucho en el canto
De las olas del mar

Mi piel y mi boca te escuchan
Cuando el mismo viento
Que pasó por tus labios
Toca mi cuerpo

Nuestras vidas
No son prisioneras
No han sido hurtadas
Por bandidos existenciales
Están a salvo
Escondidas en una tus pupilas
En el iris de tu ojo

El amor siempre ha sido
Un quejido inesperado
El sonido de la felicidad
La evidencia de la vida

Prefiero sentirte que pensarte
Y por eso siento nuestro futuro
Entre tantos árboles
En un jardín de sonrisas
Lo invisible no se puede robar
Nuestras visiones continúan

Los caprichos sólo son hojas
Frágiles que se transportan
Con el cambio de las estaciones
La música de tu fuerza
Está en los latidos de tu corazón

En 1 dimensión
Donde no existe el tiempo
Nunca es tarde
No se puede crecer hacia fuera
En el bosque de los espejos

El mundo es un lugar tan pequeño
Las distancias desaparecen
Con 1 paso puedo tomar tu mano

Las fronteras no existen
Para los espíritus
Pero los árboles sí
Es mejor estar en 1 árbol
Es mejor así

ELECTRONIC GLOW


Sleeping on
A mattress
On the floor
Is not that bad

As long as the children
Are sleeping
On their beds
And dreaming about
Conquering dinosaurs
Waking up & telling me about it
And listening to my advice
About what to do
When hunting alone

But now it’s time
To go back to
My low profile cradle

I am getting ready to
Read the poetry of
Rae Armantrout
Because this
Is like camping
Like sleeping
With the New Yorker
Something that happens
Not too often

PILAR EN EL CIELO



Ellos
Respaldados por intenciones centrifúgales

Pero nosotros
Plantamos nuestras semillas
Por todo el planeta
Respaldados por la supervivencia
Adiestrados para amar la tierra

Tú y yo
Plantamos semillas de amor
En nuestras memorias
Brotes de un millón de intenciones
Antídotos contra la incomunicación

Sembraré en tus ojos
Las imágenes más importantes
Senderos colmados de estrellas
Estrechos como la cintura
De una palmera

¡Oh Dios mío!
Guía mis semillas
Como guías los rayos del sol
Convierte a cada una de ellas
En embajadoras invisibles
En matrices de confianza
En protones antisépticos

SIRENITA


When I looked at sea
I thought I saw you
More beautiful than ever
Swimming with dolphins

YOUR IMAGE


Tonight I drank
Red wine
It felt
As if I were
Kissing your lips

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS


He was drinking it but
He stopped and poured
Orange juice
On the double grave
A little bit for each person
He’s on the right path
He just follows his heart
And he’s only a child

SUSPIROS


Learning to fall in love
On the side of
A public telephone

A la superman
But without
The stains
Of suicide

I could hear her
With her most
Beautiful sighs

By resonance
I could tell
Her lovely dimensions

A dog uses
The sense of smell
To process data

A guitarist listens
For the truth of music
For any evidence
For all the indications
For a melody
For a bed on fire

ELEMENTARY


The children run
In the school yard
They are so happy
So full of
Energy & love

They play with
The morning sun
The soft warm wind
Curls around them

And suddenly
As I wrote this
A beautiful girl
2nd grader asked:
“What are you doing Sir?”
And she looked at my notebook
And said
“What beautiful hand writing you have”
I pondered on her words
Only children say those things
Adults never do

The girl ran away towards
Her classmates
And then a voice came
From my right side
It was a 2nd grade boy
“Sir, is it true you are a spy?”
“Son, it’s just that the boys and I
Like to play that way”
He ran away & continued
Playing with his classmates

CONSIDERATIONS


Papá
All elderly people have blue veins?


Not all of them
But a lot of them do

Papá
What is the color
Of our veins?

Look at my hand
( I made a fist)
My veins began
To emerge on my skin

Papá
You veins are green

Yes
Your veins are also green

Papá
When we are elderly
Are we going to have
Blue veins?

Maybe
Maybe not
The important thing
To remember right now
Is that we have them green

TRAIL


I love you
So much
I want you
To become
An extension
Of me

BUTTERFLY


If not you
Somebody else
Might as well
Join the good cause
It might be
A little rough at first
But you will be better off
And perhaps someday
You might even thank me

JUST ANOTHER DAY


The woman cries
But everything carries on naturally
Like it has throughout the centuries
Nevertheless I cry with her
And when her husband laughs
I laugh with him

We have to support our friends
In sadness & happiness
In festivity & sobriety
This is pleasing to the Lord

We try to explain complicated things
With metaphors and short stories
Regardless of this
Few understand

The ones that do comprehend
Are usually working class
Poor in devaluated monies
But rich in dignity
And prosperous with
Many smiles

WITNESS


The wind caresses
The hairs
Of the couple
They walk together
They watch a stabbing
As they move
On the sand

ESCRUTINIO


Investigaciones clandestinas
Los dígitos más personales
De los ciudadanos del mundo
Plegarias lanzadas al cielo
En espera de una lluvia
Con resultados benignos
Hoy me siento más cerca
De todas las mamás del mundo
Me solidarizo con las cortinas
De incertidumbre
Una espera en la
Separación de la realidad

ALEJANDRA


The wheels are
Merry go round again
I miss walking already and
The bicycle looks like
The best mechanical solution

When she
Entered my car
The sun set intensified
We were baptized
With ultraviolet rays
Our faces
Were left glowing

My heart became an
Uncontrollable pinball
A tiny 22 ricocheting
& piercing my emotions

This symptom was aggravated
By the tone of her voice

I kept talking by default
Trying to break the ice
But I realized there was
No frost whatsoever

I felt a pleasurable pain
And saw how
My thorax was on fire

I tried
Not to look at her
Because I did not wanted
To be assassinated
By her beauty

I remembered
One of the last things we talked about
Was good taste