Conjunto Blues

The accordion player
has always been an anti-hero

in the smoky cantinas
where immorality is not only tolerated

but a way of life
wayward heart beats deepen in a hole

and always the girl who brings
lipstick to a knifefight

saturday nights and sunday morning
come upon her thighs

the unfaithful husband
who slinks home at dawn

and barks at his wife
because it’s a dog’s world

the conjunto guys
counting pennies sunday afternoon

music still rattling around
in their sweaty underwear

they are addicted to bitterness
and its highs