Chicano Poet

Friday, November 30, 2012


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

Wednesday, November 28, 2012


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

Monday, November 26, 2012


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

Saturday, November 17, 2012


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

Wednesday, November 14, 2012


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 


Tuesday, November 13, 2012


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

Thursday, November 08, 2012


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

Wednesday, November 07, 2012


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

Monday, November 05, 2012


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

Friday, November 02, 2012


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

Thursday, November 01, 2012


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.