TIERRA PROMETIDA


Libertad para las flores
En los campos
De concentración

Salvación para una niñez
Bombardeada con
La política del miedo

Cuidemos la fauna
De nuestra época
Restauremos los mensajes
Del Amor

Despejemos
Cualquier intención homicida
Despejemos
Cualquier obstáculo
Que atente contra
La belleza

Construyamos túneles
De esperanza
Océanos de vida
Cielos de medicina
Con aviones en
Lunas de miel
Equipados con
Mísiles procreativos
Y bombas en gestación

Que la metralla sea
Semillas de bondad
Para la multiplicación
De árboles

Hidratemos las especies
Las que gobiernan
Esta esquina de Latinoamérica
Las que están
En aquel patio
De Palestina
Estos muros fronterizos
Aquel llanto
De Medio Oriente
Este parque de la amistad
Aquel parque israelí

Estas energías humanas
Con una misma sangre
Una misma intención
La supervivencia
La defensa de la sonrisa
El derecho a respirar
Aire libre de pólvora
La delicia
De tomar el sol
Sin las sombras
De murallas
Donde los niños
Y los poetas del mundo
Puedan caminar
Sin obstrucciones
En el camino
De la felicidad

CAFETERIA

2 Israelis trying to connect
It seems they just woke up
From their Mexican sleep



FEDERALES


The Federales pulled me over
So I got off my bicycle
And they asked me questions
About my work
About my radio
About my home

I noticed a similar pattern
To the boring migra questions
They repeat the same inquiry
More than once during their conversations
Hoping somehow you’ll give them
A different answer

“Are you nervous?”
“No just a little tired”
“Why do you want this radio?”
“I want it so I can operate it”
“This radio is used by the maña”
“The what?”
“The maña”
“The mafia?”
“The maña”
“I think you should be on a bicycle too”
“What?”
“Never mind”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I am writer”
“How many works have you published?”¨
“A few poems”
“Poems?”
“Poems…like poetry”
“So then you are a poet?”
“There you go”
“Can we search your belongings?”
“Sure”

They looked in my backpack
They rang my bicycle bell
They played with my Leatherman
They looked at my passport

“Are you a Mexican National?”
“That is correct”
“Thank you Sir”
“You are welcome”

They drove away
Holding their AR15’s
Close to their bodies
They seemed like nice kids

AM

I grip the cycle
On the line
Between dawn & day


CLONE

Yoko Ono
Walks with a child
In Mexican sidewalk


ROAD

Moving car
Amplified police faces
Passed us by


APPARITION

I saw him again
He’s still alive
Morning mixed feelings

MY FRIEND

The woman follows me
In the supermarket
She looks tired
And somewhat depress
I feel for her
Her husband looks sad

DE COMPRAS

Truenos de noche
Gimen las sirenas
Carabineros de prisa

SOL

La noche se quema
La noche clama
El día gana

BICYCLE RIDE

I pass the soldier’s station
They’re not there
Sun & wind hold hands

PERFECT

A bunch of migras
Looking lost
In car exhaust

SANATORIUM


It is the great sadness of the morning
The motion of my soul trying to escape
And being obstructed in my windpipe

This is my image of sorrow
Death by your side
By your beautiful side
Death next to you
Like it lingers around us
All the time

I still see you
Enchanting the road
With your mindful walk

The automobile destroyed
Your friend destroyed
Your hospital bed can be a sanctuary
And if you capture the flying imagery
You can survive because life
Does become beautiful

It is true that this is how you are
It is true that I see you in the future
At a better place
A place of fortitude & happiness
I believe you will survive in the
Glorious apparitions of your spirit

Luminous visions of medication
Holdfast to them because
These can change your life &
Make you see the sun
With different eyes

NIKO

Handyman of the tongue
Generalist of gossip
Constructor of his
Winter penitence

NOCTURNAL

The poet plays his guitar
I can’t help but dance
In the cold night

MERCADITO


Quise comprar
Y el lugar
Era tan oscuro
Tenebroso y silencioso
Como una funeraria
Un sepelio comercial
El suelo con los líquidos
Del desengaño

NEW YEAR’S GRIN

Policeman in line
I tell him not to get cold
I can’t help smiling
Cups of coffee in our hands

DMV2

The guy
Who runs this place
Looks like OJ Simpson
He seems to be nervous
It is only natural
It is only human

DMV


Those who work
For the state
Seem so clean
Sometimes their
Faces shine
Like a Hollywood ad

Beauty
Will be found
With its citizens
Not with its bureaucrats

Beauty
On the faces
Of healthy children

Beauty
The splendor of California

It is found
With its people
Specifically in
The beaming
Eyes of its mothers

DIFFERENT SUNDAY

On our way in
We gambled the water hole
I suppose we were on a hurry
But we made it through

On our way out
We decided to share
The cattle’s road

The beasts looked disturbed
But just for just a moment
They quickly got back to gracing
Here we avoided the clay & mire

At highway speeds
We could feel the consequences
Of our gamble

The car began to shake
Almost uncontrollably
At first I thought the worse
But as we continued travelling south
I had my easy kind of feeling
This always encourages me

We persisted in our hunt
For the governor of the sea
I got mine
They settled for
Ground meat & potatoes

BOARDWALK


Two Spanish kids
Walked by us
They were blaming
Each other saying
You’re dangerous
Back & forward
Their accents fell
On the crafted floor
And they slid towards
The ocean

NIGHT


The cat
Keeps jumping
On me
As I sleep
Wants to
Get cozy & all
And it’s not
Even mine

COFFEE SHOP

As I drink coffee
Little red ridding hood
Flirts with the wolf
Her father seems nervous
Her mother is good looking
And the wolf looks at me
And smiles

Saint Nicholas... the world needs your help tonight...