On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone

El ocho patas
wrote beautifully

about beauty about truth
about justice

about impossible
Mexican girls

but he could never
get on the cover

of the Rolling Stone
el ocho patas

had his own
curandera

he had his own
chupacabra

his own sunbaked raza
but he could never

quite get on the cover
of the Rolling Stone

The Sister's Birthday

El ocho's sister
was long-suffering

a true woman
stronger than

the strongest bridge
more sturdy

than the morning sun
more moving

than the moon
fierce against storms

carving joy from sadness
loyal to the light

safer than the Lord
his sister

battled the soul for him
who was so weak

she showed him the way
if he gave up

she asked nothing
in return

and in her love caused everything
that's good and great

making el ocho patas
more blessed than life

What Might Have Been

She was a snowy ravine
hidden in Seguin

Connie Sepulveda
on the back porch

the gravel street
transports her cracked peach

the iron trees rust
and leave a bitter taste

Connie's eyes
like an out of place sea

damn the crazy Aztec sun
which keeps beating down

upon el ocho's furry head
making no sense

Chicano Crash Test Dummy

El ocho patas
was no dummy

in the true sense
of the word

and if he was
it was purely by accident

with his never give up
attitude

and his
savoir faire

his clairvoyance
and his voyclairance

the  cabrón
was no pendejo

in the true sense
of the word

and if he was
it was purely by pendejada

The House On Manco Street

El ocho patas lived in the house
on Manco Street

it was full of sand
and cenizas

it was purple
en el distrito de los reyes

he lived there
with his eight feet

half of them
dipped in the dirty

San Antonio River
his eight calzetines

painted the river brown
eventually he left town

and Manco Street
limped back into history