puro border # 2

one sky after another electric white blistering blue
ambient material hovers over downtown or in the valley
depending on the wind
global warming is old news here
aqui en la frontera hay dos temporados invierno y infierno
my first joke in spanish
my heel sinking into the tar in the cracks of the street
I went to sleep in North Texas saying nightie night
I go to bed in El Paso saying que suene con los angelitos
ni de aqui ni de alla
just one more renegade who headed for the border
here among la buena gente
they star in The Salt of the Earth
they cook your food
teach your children
pick your chiles to keep your burrito cheap
keep your grandson out of jail
la buena gente tan agradable
St Jude & Jesus & JFK on the dining room wall
above the picture of Junior in his uniform back from Desert Sand
the mamacitas in cheap heels
the greasy quesadillas
the cultures rubbing up against each other like shoppers on South Stanton
the wind swept night sky with its brilliance
farmers praying for rain
workers praying for work
the labor back-breaking as a free fall onto red rock teeth gasping for air
like stage door johnnies we wrap our sordid secrets in flowers & sweets
a land ruled by thirty kinds of cops armed with the right to fuck with you
a history too dangerous to be taught
the Bizbee Removals
the beaten strikers
the short hoe as labor surveillance device enforced by law
the ridiculed burrito for school lunch
the tongue silenced by the big stick
the ever growing heat
the pawnshop culture
the grim reality of military occupation
a constitution-free zone
si pues no
una cultura bien rica
resilient as succulent flesh waiting for the warm kiss
rain from a dusty sky

written at Tumblewords Project on the birthdate of Walt Whitman May 31, 2008