It Was Supposed To Be A Three Century Cruise

for becky flores

In our old Chicano shipwrecked days
the SS Minnow in the middle of the barrio
Corky, Porky and Abelardo

when the Gaudalupe gang went bang bang bang.
Henry and his brothers
didn’t give a dang.

Mary Ann must be Consuelo
what was Henry, sixteen?
The gravel streets

turned to asphalt once you entered
the white side of town.
Summer dust-clouds inside the hovel house.

Henry’s brother Billy was Mr. Magoo,
he still can’t see at night tonight.
And for those of you wondering,

you can’t always have Ginger
especially in adventures
of the cockroach people

except, of course, when Henry must infest
her beautiful nest.
The rest is best unsaid.