Chicano Poet

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Hot Catholic Girl

Loving my Catholic girl
my wrist slapped by God

storm wind cowers
in a spoon

Mexican chica
de la cuchara bendita

love inside a baseball cap
the saints

she has let go
la virgen de guadalupe homeless

la virgen de san juan
pidiendo pan

holy crap
what has our love done

to the
world!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Mea Culpa 

She was practicing erasure
behind her house.

He had convinced her
she was more than beautiful.

He'd put his hands
on her naked soul.

Still she serenaded him
with her blonde hair.

On his dirty birthday
he kissed greatness.

Made love to her
unobserved.

But the spirit of a kiss
does not transform.

She scrubbed
and scrubbed

as much of him
as she could reach.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Seascape

He took her
to the motel

in his broken-down
tour bus

the cucarachas
strutted wisdom

dirty pyramids exhaled
behind the gaudy curtains

the wannabe
rock and roll hero

rented a thousand rooms
his madonnas of spit

spread-eagled and frizzy
the eggs sewed

and at dawn the housekeeper
put a hole in the sea.

Friday, May 24, 2013


Señor Gringo’s

At Señor Gringo’s
the kinky tacos are the best

and maybe
the chupacabra breast enchiladas

or the colita de cabrito soup
with sliced burnt tortillas

like my abuelo used to eat
for breakfast with his coffee

and oh
the chicken gut menudo

is to die for
raved a guera to her friends---

I myself prefer to eat down the street
at Whataburger

said the lone brown face
in the group.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

This Land

for A.

A girl at work wears trenzas
old school Mexican style

reminiscent
of what we have gained

and what we have lost
amid volcanoes we once roamed

to the plains of Texas and beyond
we have gathered

built houses
roads and bridges

built components
which crawl along on Mars

this land is our land
then and now

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Chicano Shoe

The Chicano shoe is constructed
of pain and grief

bound up by tears
which slip off the eye

bound up by the sweat
of the back

the leathery hands
which reach into the heart

the womb of the Chicana
which softens the blow

the fiestas
which wipe away the blood

or bring it forth
once again

the Chicano shoe---
it's not for everyone.


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Oklahoma

The knives
which come out of God have no name

the splintered boards
which come out of the Almighty

walls which he makes collapse
glass which he launches

nails which he flings
at two hundred miles an hour

which kill innocent young children
come out of God

you only see his backside
as he flees

you can not see
what's in his head or why.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Prometheus

She was made of fire
and everybody knew it.

Everything she touched
and everything she looked at.

The heat waves
and mirages.

The ones who caught fire
and wished to burn forever.

The ones who feared that weather
would bring rain.

She was made of fire
and he wanted to be burned so bad.

He begged her for the gift
only to claim he was its sole creator.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

De Ladrones Y Cabrones

Los ladrones de Lewis and Clark
travelled by lantern at night

the land was sweet and innocent
like a young girl

her arms
were refreshing rivers

her eyes
could see forever

her hips
spacious and splendid

her hair delicious
until that fateful day

when they leveled
her people and her village

los ladrones y cabrones
de Lewis and Clark.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Perfect Storm

She was dangerous
blame her charms

no blemish
in her mind

the sea breeze
hung onto itself

a sandpiper
installed pipes

the love they made
swirled into view

two ships in the night
darker and darker

their hulls scrapping
against each other

exchanging rust
below the waterline

while a lonely porpoise
rode the bow wave.


Friday, May 10, 2013


Her Love For Him

Her love for him
was not like love

his love for her
dropped and dragged

was overwhelming
strange boulders

wandered into town
sliced and whole

she knew
their taste

their ribbons
as his scent

crawled its way
towards her

and she accepted him as fire
choking on his smoke.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Of Lovers Lent To Us

Bent back
form the suspicious limb

folded
as it were

her lips
of bright night

could cheat
could fathom

could rile
simmering moon

in the cauldron
of a sick sea

and those
who despised them

for what
love was.

2.

Anxious to get
to see her

the fine glass
he wove into his eye

the blood
he'd brought from song

whatever was wrong with right
grew in his chest

the blaring siren
of a fingernail

is nothing to man without woman
the metal of desire

oozes up from nowhere
leprosy of the sun

as they make love
with broken and nervous necks.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

In Her Own

Mark my words
she said

as if she was
the poetess of love

which clearly
she wasn't

the sexual pearls
next to

time-lapsed
roses

a beautiful bead
of sweat

on her belly
and the skyline

of the city
begged climax from sea.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Reunion

for S. G.

The ache in her heart
as she jumps on him

and wraps her legs
around his waist

could be forgiven
except for the stones

which move
like bullets

wooden or leaden
what does it matter

her eyes sparkle
and oppress

even menace.
Is this what love

is all about.
He catches himself

in mid-thought---thinking---
love should be self-explanatory.

Monday, May 06, 2013

Chocolatl

La Llorona
turned out to be

just a chunk
of chocolate

flung at a wall
which did not

ask for it
or deserve it

fine place
for an arroyo

the muddy
rainwater

looking for
a door nob

screaming
let me out---

chocolate is indeed
for lonely girls.

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Mountain Train

She went from lollipops
and kittens

to womanly cringing
and then acceptance

snow-peaked mountains
melting in his hands

and her
wondering why

cotton passed over the cotton
of her undergarments

as it lay
upon the world

the foam
of the world

chugging along
steam rising

and her lips slapping against
a stranger's chromosomes.

Thursday, May 02, 2013

El Borachito

My people rose up from nothing
to be nothing

said an old man
in a cantina

his warm beer
like the arm

of a good woman
wasted on him

who had seen
better days

had high hopes
for his people

promised his wife
a bright future

promised his children
the world

now he drank his beer
in a hole in the wall

his raza
would be great once again

complete with gritos he said---
dreams die hard.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

The Alamo

The first time
he touched her

she was filled
with wonder

her eyes
lit up

she pushed
his hand away

and then
surrendered

like the Alamo defenders
should have done

at the mercy
of a Mexican.