Artemio Sanchez Today


Kennedy was shot the next day in Dallas,
Artemio watched the black & white broadcasts
on the hospital television

along with the other “inmates”.
Artemio often wondered about
this other country

which existed alongside his,
occasionally bleeding over
into his own Mexican world.

The other Mexicans across the border
were completely unknown to him.
His great-grandparents

had been born in Tejas.
He was confused
not only about the meaning of his life,

but also about the mixed-up world
that preached one thing
and practiced another.

So Artemio decided to keep the identity
he kept inside his own head,
and to this day he honors it,

and, of course, he pays the price for it,
but, at least, he doesn’t have to pay for it
in dollars.