Some people spend 40 years wandering the wilderness.
I spent 40 years writing this book.

Buy it here: http://aztlanlibrepress.com/

Taco Triptych

1. Crime Couplets

Rain hit La Llorona's head
like a ball-peen hammer.

Stars receded
from a hairline.

Love never within earshot.

Lightning outlining
the creek.

It was in the middle of the week.
An embryo squirmed in La Llorona's womb.

2. Barrio Courtship

The rooster baby
bailed on us,

and " my girlfriend's thighs
remain oblong and lax",

said the bearded boy
whose use of picket fences

flagged down the police,
the cherry siren

blinking blue,
the cock crow

of the boy
impressed not just his girl

but her tattooed friends
askew.

3. Señorita Nopales

As soon as the word nopales
came out of her mouth,

the espinas were too much,
the world spun

out of control
hurtling the Mayans

into outer space.
She left the cocina in a hurry

with Mexicans who claimed to be
Spanish invaders.

Poor Supergirl

He was waiting for Supergirl
to come.

In destitute
they made love.

Nothing in the cupboard
but sex.

The dining room
of depth.

The can opener
of proclivity.

He was waiting for Supergirl
to come.

And when she came,
poverty was the same.

The Couple

His head
missed her.

His hand
missed her.

His eyes
missed her.

His heart
missed her.

His mind
missed her.

And from
far away,

she missed
his head.

Roofing Nails

Hungering for her,
he was diagnosed with roofing nails.

His wild shoulder
digging in her crotch

created the weary diamond
which cut off the metal

of her mother and father.
Her little sister

stood in amazement
as the wall-teeth

added up,
and the lovers

made of water
boiled in a corner

like crisp machetes
of sweet corn.

El Hormiguero

He let
the ants bite her ankles

in a sign of love
which he learned

from a devoted uncle
whose head

was far removed.
The ants

up to her waist.
Her lips

smiled in pain.
Love doesn't

have to be
this way

her friends
told her.

Free of ants
what did they know?

Lo Que Sea

La Llorona
turned out to be

just a chunk
of chocolate

flung at a wall
which did not

ask for it
or deserve it

fine place
for an arroyo

the muddy
rainwater

looking for
the door again

screaming
let me out---

chocolate is indeed
for lonely girls

Little Black Dress

Her little black dress
turns red hot

in his wavering hands.
Her lips tell him

take it all
take it all

under
her breath.

And he knows it,
but falters

as he has
always done.

She is the fire
which rages

in the words
he tries in vain

to vanquish,
to slink away from---

a fool
content with embers.

Blink

Worried what
her father and mother

would think,
she went on the blink.

The earth by far did sink
and came out

the other side.
Icebergs

donned mustaches,
whitecaps wigs,

whales with pails
tried to empty

the Seven Seas,
soon there were six

and her
father and mother

gave not a damn
what wrong her lover rang.

here's one for La Becky

Packet

Damp packet of sugar
in the speedboat

she was forced
to be in

her blonde hair
blowing in the spray

her chest
bouncing like the lake.

He was in love
with her every feature.

The shoreline beckoned
in her eyes.

The dock
had a ring to it

which only sparks could hear.
He piloted the speedboat

of her thighs
and throttled back the  rocky coast