El Barrio Zero

La Virgen de San Juan
had lost her head.

The Coke machine
crushed the gringo Sheriff.

His deputies would not
turn in their badges.

The barrio hovered
like a soiled pigeon.

The defeated eyes
of poor children

burst like burnt beans.
The pot discarded.

Not even Jesucristo
unzipped his pants to pee.

The barrio
did not deserve to live.