Man of La Mancha
( a man and his stained t-shirt,
the life of Andres Sobaco)
Reminiscing about his dead abuela
while he ate beans with Frito Scoops
a boiled bean or two
bounced off his dirty t-shirt
the old lady always ignored
Sobaco’s shortcomings
which came in a long list
“Mijo, if you weren’t my mijo…”
she left the sentence unfinished
there was not much to brag about
when it came to her feelings
of her fat, useless grandson.
“ Look, abuela,” Sobaco had once pointed
to the broken sidewalk in front of their house
“Look, abuela, there goes that girl
who says she’s a man now.”
His abuela just shook her head
and said, “ Only God can make a man.”