Malcriado

When there was a death in the family,
grandma covered the mirror with a sheet,

told us boys we couldn’t watch tv
for a thousand years,

said, don’t turn on the radio either.
I questioned myself sarcastically,

can I scratch the sun’s round ball,
can I look into the naked, virgin moon?

And sure enough when grandma went
to the wake or the funeral,

I’d turn on the tv
and keep a good eye on the driveway,

lest I be surprised---
Dios and God not being equal.