Chamaco’s Face

Chamaco’s face

launched a thousand ships

mind you

they were not pretty ships

and they were up

to no good

if you were rich

and powerful cuidado

his ships

had their priorities

they were

painted brown

verily they sailed

upon the ocean brown

that’s how Chamaco

discovered America

Americanized Mexican Bingo

Chamaco was Mr. Bojangles

and he danced

a bottle in his hand

like El Valiente

all women

were La Sirena in his book

their kisses

tasted of sandia

La Policia card

was new

and startled

the older generation

Chamaco was black

from toiling in the fields

Oh how Mr. Chamaco

danced

Growing Up Chamaco

A boy and his rusty beans

that would be Chamaco

poor as a serf

in the Middle Ages

twelve year old Aztec boy

playing in the swamp

19fifties walking to school

like a fool

looking for love

he found hate

brown as he could be

he could never be otherwise

a true blemish

upon earth

Señora Doubtfire

Chamaco is just like

Señora Doubtfire

pees standing up

in the house of Aztlán

battles the

barrio wife

wishes his kids

were his kids

Chamaco

must turn his life around

not catch his bra on fire

frying frijoles

not bring circus animals

into the desertion

Chamaco is

just like Señora Doubtfire---

vacuums

the cieling

and wonders why

the barrio’s never clean

Chamaco’s Rejection Of Circular Time

Chamaco became more

and more abstract

his lover

was a cubist girl

her rectangles 

were triangles

her eyes

were on top of each other

her grays and blues

were pink

her smile

came to a point

her circles
were squares 

Ride The Wild Turf

Chamaco drank the clouds

put out the sun

his girlfriend boogalooed

her friend god-flew

farm chickens hang ten past tense

the city ones gang bang

buses derailed

planes grew candy tales

abuela was Quetzalcoatl

La Virgen was a bottle

Chamaco stuck his head

into his hand

what the Mayans brought

was nobody’s turf

Trouble In Paradise

When Chamaco got to paradise

he was surprised by how small it was

and when he finally met

the big man

God was five feet tall

bald with a beer belly

not at all

what Chamaco had imagined

God’s voice

was kind of grating

Chamaco did not enjoy

the mandatory meeting whatsoever

and since paradise

was so goddamn small

you could hear God’s 

irritating voice all day long

unfortunately

there was no night time in paradise

The Walk

Chamaco and his dog

went for a walk

the walk

turned into talk

fleas were confused

by the language used

Chamaco barely scratched

the surface of life

the dog lifted his leg

to spew his verse

that was 

his curse

Chamaco’s own sweet curse

was hidden

he’d been smitten

by a kitten

La Cumbia del Zombie

Chamaco was a zombie

his mente was gone

a bailar a bailar

la cumbia del zombie

brought over by Colombus

or pinche Cortez

a bailar a bailar

la cumbia del zombie

Chamaco’s chava La Malinche

swallowed the virus

a bailar a bailar

la cumbia del zombie

Chamaco was infected

with her crooked corazon

a bailar a bailar

la cumbia del zombie

Chamaco roamed Aztlan

thinking he was white

a bailar a bailar

la cumbia del zombie

The Poetry Police

The poetry police

arrested Chamaco’s amigo Jose

the brown policeman

was white

at the police station

they beat Jose like Rodney King

they questioned him until dawn

about dawn

in Los Angeles there are no

angeles

they pistol-whipped him

with a whip

Jose,

the poetry police are never wrong

and all Chamaco can do

is bail you out

Upright

Chamaco had a flaw

stuck in his craw

he went caw caw

but nah

he’d fly away from the very thing---

it flew with him

oh it was dark dark dark

a dog would bark

the cat’s hair

stood up in air

Chamaco walked upright

in the Rift Valley of Mexico.