BEYOND THE MASK 

"Aren't we all guilty?"
— RaúlRSalinas, "La Loma," Un Trip Through
the Mind Jail Y Otras Excursions©

    "STICK IT TO YA," the
       blood-red message
         emblazoned
       on the teen-age
     delinquent's T-shirt
     proclaims, flaunting
 his ill-defined contempt his
     arrogance his defiance
    his gran machín status his
        undisputed ability to
         out-snort the gang
         — but beyond that
          hardened mask
             of his face:
    his tender fuzzy-lipped
   insecurity immaturity his
   wounded-animal response
   vis-a-vis society in general
        "STICK IT TO YA!"
  ...and the next person he holds up
       in a pitch-black-hole of a
            parking lot
         turns out to be his
                o w n
            single parent
       working-the-graveyard-shift
               m o t h e r


      In homage to Edward James Olmos,
      after his immortal role in the movie,
         American Me. / 24 Sept. 1992

                — Angela de Hoyos©

DEZKALZO PRESS Juan Cárdenas, Editor-Publisher
Corpus Christi, Texas © 1994