TOP OF THE MORNING


Gun fire in the morning
In between dreams
Between the opening of the eye

Music at daybreak
Giving instructions
With its rhythms
With the mixing of words
One above the other

The smaller the profile
The better
So I sleep some more
Dreaming with the prone position

Outside
The girl that washed
Her hands
Is crying

There’s shouting
Bilingual cursing
Open wounds

Pained for those seized
The triumphant walk euphorically
Stepping on as much ground
As they can

Women wailed
For those on the back
Of the pick up truck

SEMINAR


There was a meeting
At the pharmacy
And she had to leave

It is odd
She arrived
With such a
Happy face

And was gone
As fast
As she arrived

I walked
Towards the restroom
And found school boys
Hiding from school girls

The girls wanted in
The boys wanted them out
I told them to cut it out
And walk back to the seminar

I listened to the speaker
And she said:

Tell the children
Not to eat the world
All at once

Tell them to
Eat it
Little by little
Making sure
The world doesn’t
Eat them

There is a reason
Why they are
In this world
They have a mission

BOARDWALK


Men & women
Walk with sticks
In their hands
Dogs beside them

The ocean plays its music
White foam on the shore
Long faces in the sand

From tennis shoes
To huarache sandals
A grey summer

The vivid colors
Are only in the imagination
The lifeguard comes and goes
Running with blue hooded sweatshirt
Drinking coffee to keep going

Workers replace the old lamp poles
They carry them away with solemnity
The boys and I inspect
The brand new ones

AIRPORTS


They were at the airport
On the ticket counter
He really looked like me
And she was wearing a dress

They were on this side
You were on the other side
Across the barrier
And soon to be
Across the ocean

I was breathing
European humidity
My pores still had
Your taste
My mind was swollen
With you image

But even ideas
Are charted with borders
The sky
The air
Everything is divided
Even the spirits have
Their claims on the clouds

In New York City
I walked through a maze
Looking for the exit
Trying to catch my next flight
Till I arrived at the X-ray machines

The agent told me to
To take off my boots and my belt
I did so
And then I heard
The voice of a woman

“Pretty soon we are going to get naked”

I look towards my left
And it was the woman with the dress
Her companion
The guy with my face
Was no were to be found

“I don’t think so”
I said
And she just smiled

I walked away
Looking for a place to rest
I sat next to large windows
I could see airplanes outside
A lady sat next to me
Opened a medical

towards dinner


this morning
i saw a police woman
she was tall
and had revolver
and a shotgun
with her

i was looking
at a man
walking towards me
but she was looking me
in the eye
when she said
buen día
and i said
good morning to her

this afternoon
as i walked on gravel
i saw the neighbor's hen
struggling to swallow a snake

both were small
both were fighting
but the hen was sipping
the snake like spaghetti

the snake was wagging its tale
till it disappeared
and i told the children
the snake was still dancing
inside the hens stomach

this evening
when it was our turn
to eat dinner
we had an earthquake
as we ate tortillas & soup

SAINT


Saint Ignatius
Was eaten by lions
I paid close attention

One cat is biting his leg
The other one
Has its mouth
On the saint’s shoulder

I am told
He will be able to help
A martyr always knows
The meaning of suffering

The blond woman with blues eyes
Hands me her camera and says
Take a picture

WAKE UP


The woman
Orders the girl
To help her

They pick up garbage
And use blankets
As waste bags

Early in the morning
I heard music across the canyon
And when I opened my door

There it was
A rabbit dancing
On my front yard
I went back to bed
And slept some more