Chavez Ravine

Chamaco blew up Dodger Stadium

and gave the people back their barrio

the ungrateful cabrones

refused to move back in

donning their baseball caps

they demanded their stadium 

be rebuilt

pinches vendidos

they paid 

no mind to Chamaco

and the city

rebuilt the stadium

and the pendejos

were happy once again

I guess Tomas el Lobo was right

you can’t go home again

Semper Fi

Chamaco was all that he could be

unlike you and me

instead

he became a jarhead

from the Halls of Montezuma

to the shores of Tripoli

he died in vain in Iraq

and in Afghanistan

but he was a man

and he was a woman 

you couldn’t keep him down

and you couldn’t keep him up

he was tomorrow

and he was yesterday

he was a hero

and he was a zero

from the Halls of Montezuma

to the shores of Tripoli

Chamaco Of Time And Space

Chamaco carries a pistola

and Sixties rolas

he’s got a computer chip

on his shoulder

he’s a lover

and a hater

he flaunts his talents

denies his shortcomings

you’d almost think

he’s human

but that’s the one thing

that most of us are not

Chamaco’s long shadow

against a building in an alley

Chamaco reaches

for his gun

bang bang

his cell phone rang

his wife was calling

reminding him to buy tortillas

Chamaco put the gun away

flagged down a cab

the moon was yellow

like urine

the stars

spoke Spanish

Chamaco’s mind

doubled in size...

by the time

he got home

he became human

for his wife

while on a far-off planet

anti-Chamaco exploded

into another and another

Big Bang

Chamaco Caliente

Chamaco puts the pedal to the metal

tires squealing

motor roaring

poem fish-tailing

flying down the road

not taken

the poem

is a sportscar in his hands

curves in reverse

at high speed

almost losing control

of the words

the burning smell

overtakes the tongue

only when the poem

slides to a stop

do you realize

that Chamaco’s a hot         rod

pants on fire

candy apple red

Chamaco’s Ancestors

Some people liked Chamaco

some didn’t 

some even went so far

as to hate him

he was much like

the meteor

which wiped out the dinosaurs

short and bitter

short and bitter

like Chamaco’s ancestors

who could never

form a nation

to the consternation

of the above

Chamaco's Diet

Chamaco subsisted on a diet
of dragonflies

spitting out the wings
swallowing the crunchy eyes

sometimes afterwards
he felt his sticky feet levitating

but he didn't think
much of it

you get the picture don't you?
Chamaco was not a thinker

more of a Rodan
than a Rodin

via Alma Luz Villanueva on Facebook

The Incredible Chamaco

When you get Chamaco angry

he turns green

like the Incredible Hulk

or more likely

a jalapeño

chico pero picoso

bear-like oso-mental

don’t lose it he tells himself

or you’ll put someone

in a pozo

the only antidote

is leche

in la keche

when he finally

becomes brown again

when he becomes raza again

he has to take

the good with the bad

verde verde

te quiero verde

Legacy Del Louie Chicaspatas

El vato thought

he was badass

cruisin in his Escalade

with its 92” chrome wheels

in a barrio

known for its beautiful crime

though nothing good

ever came out of there

one day

el vato

was gunned down

as he opened the lambo door

the hip hop sound

escaping low

from his Texas-sized

woofers

the barrio walls

was shaking

as el vato

hit the ground

his two boys

still  strapped to their carseats

dicen que no hay SUVs

in heaven or hell

but who knows

what God be driving