THE CLOCK

To Salvador Dalí

Señor Dalí
If only
You could see this
I have found
One of
Your clocks
It hangs above
The exit door
Inside that
Organic store
In Chula Vista
It looks like
A spiritual perspective
It follows
Hispanic time
It makes this market
Even more surreal
I wish you could
Contemplate this place
It looks like
One of your paintings
You see
I was given
A hot bowl
Of soup
It had spice
And I didn’t
Know it
So I added
More spices
And ate
From it
And the aftermath
Created traffic
Under a bright
Hot sun
And it was
Slow
Slow
So very
Slow
You always
Believed your work
Should be
For royalty
And I know
You can see
What I am
Talking about
From that place
Where you stand

THE DOCTOR

When I was a child
I remember visiting
My friend’s house
I would find their dad
A physician
Watching cartoons
With his children
They liked
Popeye the sailor man
They would have
So much fun
Adults would mock the doctor
For enjoying caricatures
I saw him & his wife
At the store
The other day
He walked a little bit slower
He seemed a little bit tired
I wanted to thank him
For helping me
Wit my accident
I wanted to tell him
That I also watch cartoons
With my children
But I just said hello
I decided to use only
Good manners

BELLY BUTTON

Along time ago
A young
Blond woman
Showed me
Her pierced navel
Outside the store
Today a middle-aged
Blond woman
With lost of cleavage
Lifted her blouse
To show me her
Pierced umbilicus
Inside the store

ESO—ES

The whole store
Dances under
The electric lights

THE CALL

They came
To the bench
Under the tree
The place of
Tobacco mist
1, you have a call
It’s an emergency
I walked fast
Towards the telephone
I found 2 mermaids
One was
Clapping her hands
The other said
It was Miss America
And she wants a date

FIRE DEPARTMENT

The firemen
Are inside
The store
They’re shopping
And talking

With mobile phones
While the place
Is burning

THE COOK

She asked me
To help her look
For pasta with a heart
We both searched
A galaxy of branded names
They were inside
Plastic bags
I want to help her
Find that organ
It will make
A good supper

CHINESE PROVERB

A bird does not sing
Because it has an answer
It sings because it has a song

IT CUTS THE TAIL OFF THE WEEKEND

I saw an
All American home
Taken away
Driven away
With expensive oil
The bottle
Of wine exploded
Spilling red
Up on the floor
Shattered pieces
Of sand
Sailed on
The wet linoleum
It’s just
A brown mix
A fat free product
The instructions
Say to add water

RON,

Importance is
At the end
Of the week
The negotiations
With your managers
And your HR lady
Have been fruitless
So I write to you
And ask you
To consider
The situation
After all
You are a family man
Like I am
You are a working man
The same as I
Let us work it out
Sincerely
1

DEMAND

The lady
In black
Insists on
Arabic products

TITLE

The scribe
Is unrelenting
He encourages me
To submit
My book
To the publishers
I think
I’ll call it
“The Store”

SUNDAYS

The fire
Is love
A day
Of the sun
It brings warmth
To the heart
When we
Work against it
It burns
The tissues
Of enterprise

caldo de pollo

las palabras son puentes

como leche de cabra

gallinas en palanque

sin galleros

el sonido del mar

entona canciones populares

y casi puedo jurar

que la vida tiene más sabor

la clienta me dijo

que lo pusiera en venta

porque la fecha

de caudicación

está próxima

se vence en septiembre

del 06

WATERS!

You can float
On salt water
Sweet waters
Are treacherous

4 of us
Tried to swam
Across a river
The woman swimming
Next to me
Fell behind

I was not able
To save her
1 of my friends
Rescued her

¡AGUAS!

A veces
El agua dulce
Es más peligrosa
No sucede así
Con el agua salada
Porque en el mar flotas

Éramos 4
Los que intentábamos
Cruzar el río
La mujer que
Nadaba a mi lado
Se quedó atrás
Y yo no
Pude salvarla

Pero 1
De mis amigos
La rescató

NEWSPAPER

The man on
The bench
Shows me
His papers
He says he’s
Waiting to
Go inside the office
Just news
Bad news

COMPRADODRES

los clientes
en busca de semillas
unos las piden
para sembrar
y las hay:
de mostaza
de cilantro
de amapola
dentro de bolsas
de plástico
están colgadas
como adornos navideños
en vísperas
de verano

HEATSTROKE

Climate changes
Affect all things
Dirty cans
Become dirt free

Pico de Gallo
When added
To a fruit cocktail
Ignites an explosion
Of Californian tongues

The Cockroaches
Are hiding
Inside the log

A ghost
Knocked down
The bottles
Of oil

The man
With the tank
By his side
Gave me
Health instructions

Ginger….
Ginger…
Ginger…
I can feel you
But I can’t see you
Are you bilingual?

Palmas turned
To salsa
And this market
Sells no batteries

All this energy
Can’t be collected

A GREEN POEM

Is not good
To have green
In your mind
When it grows
It makes you
Push the wrong people
When this happens
It is time
To cut the
Green grass
Out of your system
To cut it away
From your neighbors