Artemio Sanchez was born with eight feet.
In school the Mexican kids called him
El Ocho Patas, Eight Feet. In his adult years
el ocho patas was obsessed with shoes.

With Sylvia Plath

One day
el ocho patas came upon Sylvia Plath

a swarm of bees
flew above their heads

a blue stasis
filled the kitchen

while they sat and talked
and an ominous oven stood idly by

the tv ariel
whinnied like a horse

her two children
played on the endless floor

Sylvia and el ocho patas
talked about poetry

as if that was all
there was in the whole damned world

meanwhile the world
looked the other way