NORTHERN OXEN


The priest sang like a mariachi
Played the guitar like one too
He travels by bus and
His weeding ring is a scar

At first
He had me fooled
When he kept silent
And just stood there
I thought him to be a monk

Even as he gently spoke
I had no suspicions
But when we finished
Eating dinner
He grabbed the guitar
And began to sing
On the corner of dining hall
Where the caged birds are
Where the parrot keeps shouting

Cabron!
Cabron!
Cabron!

By this the children now
The parrot is asking for a tortilla
And when they feed it
It stops screaming
And we have precious silence
And the priest stood there
Next to the green parrot
And sang something about
Tequila & forgetfulness

When he finished singing
I applauded
I think I even said “Bravo”
Asked for a blessing
And drove into the night

POTENTIAL


The girl with the black boots
Orders a bagel
With ranch salad dressing

Her boots
Are black and shinny
She’s leathered up almost
All the way up to her knees

When she crosses her legs
She looks like a dominatrix
She smokes tinny cigarettes
And the smoke
Caresses her dark
Turtle neck

I get up from the sofa
And walk to bathroom
I leave my poem
On the table

And while I watch
My urine making ripples
And listen to the stream of liquid
Hitting the toilet water
I wonder if she’s reading
What I am writing
About her

When I come out of the bathroom
There is old woman waiting by the door
She looks at me
I look at her and walk
Back to my sofa

And I suspect the boot lady
Must of read part of my poem
Because now she has
A nervous smile on her face
When she looks my way

I like how she bites
That bagel
Her jaws are decisive
She tells her friend she hungry

She even manages
To smile as she chews
And she bites again

She must have a strong metabolism
Because she’s skinny
With long legs
An impressive stance
And hungry
Very hungry

DAY SONG

The children singing
Many treasures we posses
Among them your eyes

DARK WATER



The old woman walks in
She looks at me
And says she’s sorry

Then she proceeds
To the cashier and
Asks for money
She needs it
For cancer treatment

She walked out
Walked away
And I could taste
Her sadness
In my cup of coffee

I see this
On top of the islands
On the entrance
On the hill
On the inside
Of the doors
There’s she is
Pregnant & beautiful
With a pen sticking out
Like an antenna
From her head

I found you Monika
With the correct
Equations written
On your eyes

And you Marcos
You look
Like a prime candidate
To sing inside a 4x4
Humming the melodies
I think you may have the rhythm

I walk outside the supermarket
And the fellow under
The red truck say
This is leaking water

BLACK & BLUE


Blue scarf & blue shoes
Black pants, blouse & sun glasses
Touch a corona

LAST DAY


Girls from the red cross
Add seasonings to their food
Offshore wind with us

EXTERNAL BENCH


She explains
The dark side of the moon
To her children
In excellent Spanish

She explains eclipses
And the boys look up
Into the night
And I do the same

She explains change
In temperature
Astronomical whims
And their consequences

For a moment
I think of telling them
The mystery of
The sleeping rabbit
But this would be better
On a full moon

I decide to watch them
To listen to them
From a distance

As I wait
For my turn
For whatever happens
For the night to go on
For me to go home
And go to bed