G-L-O-R-I-A's  Daughter

When Ivorie turned eighteen
she told her mother

she was joining the Marines
Gloria's heart

started doing jumping jacks
and as she looked

into her daughter's eyes
she bit her lip

to keep from screaming
Oh Lord

please let me
be dreaming she thought

but sometimes
the Lord

is not on our side
and Gloria cried

into the night
looking for the light

and while Ivorie insisted
that everything would be alright

the hot smell
of the Iraqi desert

overcame Gloria
in her freezing living room

G-L-O-R-I-A  In Love

Gloria met a man
who suffered from the war

she thought
that she could heal him

but the damage
was too much

for sex and love
to fix him

though the heart
be willing

the mind
must acquiesce

she did her best
not to give up

he struggled
with happiness

the war
left such a mess

Gloria
had enough of love

to last a lifetime
she took off

her prosthetic legs at night
to walk in dreams

G-L-O-R-I-A's  Recovery

After months of rehabilitation
after months of learning how to use

her artificial limbs
Gloria was better off

than her nation
which had trouble

recovering from
its wounds

Gloria accepted
her new life

while the nation
stumbled and fell

got up
as if it was drunk

and still didn't know
how to wield its power

all Gloria knew
was that she had done her part

Positively Fourth Street

Backed up into
a corner of the barrio

me and my
buckteeth

had to fight
our way out

me and my
skinny ass

against the barrio
don't do me

any favors
I told

whoever would listen
on Calle Cuatro

756 Fourth Street
to be more exact

bloody nose
black eyes

of course I was
kicked in the nuts

by my own barrio
but I fought

my way out
no big deal

everybody
can

if a lousy poet can do it
so can you

El Silla De Ruedas

You’ve got to wheel around

Der Kommissar

he’s part Mexican

by matrimonio

he’s the devil’s

own demonio

mousy rat

sporting a ten gallon hat

quick to the draw

with only upper paws

his marshmallow legs

don’t feel hot chocolate eggs

when he wheels thru unweird Austin

he’s already rustin

a gun for every child

he issues ten commandants & then smiles

Der Kommissar’s in town

you better watch your step

you’ve got the wheel his ass around

Der Kommissar

Barrio God

The barrio God
took more

than seven days
to make this mess

the tortilla factory
broadside

diesel busses
paused like bread

Butterkrust
on Broadway

was a far out dream
for the Catholic

school girls
dragged by their mothers

to Centeno's
the barrio God

stacked up
in Studebakers

a mangy dog
of steering wheels

he put the river
too far away

for abuela
to kick its tires

a pot of beans
quite bulletproof

the barrio God
would stick his face

into the boiling caldo
and not ever think

and that's how he created
the gated barrio

for us to keep
as junk

Road Rash

She cleans up
pretty dirty

said the man
as they traveled

through El Paso
on the lam

a bandana
wrapped around

his swollen wrist
which was resting on the seat

the poor mountains
squeezed into Texas

by some madman
yes his sister-in-law

had always
been a bitch

Aguita

Water came to knock
on my door

claiming to be
from the arroyo

down the street
and not the Girl Scouts

trying to pawn
their cookies

nor the Jehovah's
Witnesses

convinced only their God
could crack the whip

I closed the door
on the water

simply saying
I don't believe in arroyos

went back inside
and petted my dry spell

Bread And Fire

She offered
bread and fire

to his mouth
she kept her secret

from herself
the book of love

hidden in a tree
its pages ever clear

she gave him
her bent and torn lips

in the wind
their taste

nourished him
against the common fold

he beckoned her hair
and her nakedness

to fill his mind
from within

he clung
to the beads of her chest

to keep
from falling in love