El Tololoche

The tololoche
is swaying to the music

as much as it can sway
without falling over.

The bajo sexto
es pretexto.

According to the accordion,
nothing happened.

Music will
do that to you.

The tololoche
was swaying to the music,

swaying as if there was no tomorrow
in the word mañana.

An Old Tecato Speaks

These ain't no crockpot beans
these beans were made

in a beat up pot
on the stove

and when I burn them
there's that old familiar smell

you know so well
still edible of course

but the burnt beans
stuck to the bottom of the pot

are hard to scrap off
much like my life

Self-Portrait With Maize

The dog's leg infected with gusanos
dad put black grease on it

the leg healed like metallic gears
no more grinding

at least I thought that in my little head
dad on the John Deere tractor

far away in the fields
sharecropper extraordinaire

moviestar of the corn
dusty cotton conquistador

his dark Indian past
grabbing at the heels

the tearing out of human hearts
would have been right up his alley

the fields can be so glorious
in the wrong eyes

but I understand now
what no chingues conmigo means

Dark Brown Lawnmower Men

The dark brown lawnmower men are outside
mowing the hell out of the industrial lawn

and, get this, they came all the way from Mexico
to do it

seven of them share
a two bedroom apartment

you could say they live in luxury
go to Walmart together

take up the whole aisle
that's their way

but all too soon
the lawnmowers, the leaf blowers

the hot angry sun come calling
calling their names so sweetly

life
is so hard to resist

Eskimo Blue Day

Snow cuts loose from the frozen
Until it joins with the African sea
In moving it changes it's cold and it's name
The reason I come and go is the same
Animal game for me
You call it rain
But the human name
Doesn't mean shit to a tree
If you don't mind heat in your river and
Fork tongue talking from me
Swim like an eel fantastic snake
Take my love when it's free
Electric feel with me
You call it loud
But the human crowd
Doesn't mean shit to a tree
Change the strings and notes slide
Change the bridge and string shift down
Shift the notes and bride sings
Fire eating people
Rising toys of the sun
Energy dies without body warm
Icicles ruin your gun
Water my roots the natural thing
Natural spring to the sea
Sulphur springs make my body float
Like a ship made of logs from a tree
Redwoods talk to me
Say it plainly
The human name
Doesn't mean shit to a tree
Snow called water going violent
Damn the end of the stream
Too much cold in one place breaks
That's why you might know what I mean
Consider how small you are
Compared to your scream
The human dream
Doesn't mean shit to a tree

Parthenon

The young girl’s smile
came off in his hands

so easily
he thought

the steps of the Parthenon
could not breathe

and the Aegean
ballooned up

until it popped
the girl squirmed

as she was forced to grab
the shiny apple

traffic went
around her

the famous fountain
was flattened in an instant

so much for heroes
said the old rainy man

who had stood by
smoking a white cigar

the girl yelled
I’ve had it up to here

the gods
are not our kin

The Lake

My lake daughter comes to me
in a hungry hollow dream

there is room
for the derelict confetti

her mother’s fire
was a white thorn

led astray
tassels on the moon

bite-marks on water
I tell my daughter

in giant letters
rise up over the wall

the jealousy quite lost
with golden keys

your sweetness once disowned me
like a storm

Remorse

So many friends I've lost
standing at the gas pump

my tears twist themselves into the color of a tree
the sad wind slaps a giant fairy tale upon the page

the old familiar faces
unearth a boat ramp

we're all subject to the inundations
breathe in the old snake dust slowly

so many friends gone now
swallowed by unfriendly dolphins

the mind toast the past so nuclear
the frilly particles of time

hidden behind a spider's kin
the countryside mistaken for an empty hill

I've lost so many friends
gesundheit in a can.

Uppity Mexican Girl

Hey pretty girl
I see time has taken its toll

on your body
your flames have gone out

your devilish horns
filed down

by the hurricane winds
you kept company with

got your hot lips too close
to razor-sharp moonbeams

once you conquered us all
with your high heels & short skirts

oh boy
do I remember when

you reigned supreme
now you’ve been taken down

a few notches
you even wear huaraches

No waffles were hurt during the making of my breakfast.

(Sorry, I thought I had posted this to Facebook.)

The Beautiful Boy

He was
a beautiful baby.

He was so cute
when he was learning to walk.

He tried to crawl
into the fireplace once.

His first word
was ( you guessed it) mama.

Lumps and bruises
when he learned to ride

his first bicycle
without training wheels.

He was an awkward teenager
tell me something new.

All in all
he was a typical boy.

Shy around girls
he could be a punk sometimes.

But he was a real good boy
until this morning.

He took a gun to school
and killed three classmates.

It must be true
beauty is only skin deep.

RIP Davy