You Make Me Nachos Poem by Juan Olivarez

When Pepe and I were kids,
Pepe was in love with,
A little white girl,
From across the tracks.

Back in the sixties,
Interracial friendships,
Of any kind,
Were frowned upon.

But Pepe would not be deterred,
He marched right up,
To little Teresa Russell,
And professed his love.

And asked her,
What it would take,
To win her love,
For him alone.

Teresa turned to him,
With a sneer on her face,
And said to Pepe,
'You make me nauseous.'

Pepe's face lit up.
He turned around,
And he started running for home,
With me in hot pursuit.

I was trying to console him,
But he was in another world.
He ran straight to the kitchen,
And got to work.

He fried some tortilla strips,
Poured beans, and cheese,
And jalapenos on top,
And ran back to Teresa.

He presented his creation,
To the love of his life,
And she just stood there in awe,
And she actually liked it.

Pepe and Teresa,
Stayed together through,
High school, well,
Through 11th grade,
Until she moved away.

It always amazed me,
How their relationship,
Came about,
It was amazing.

She said, ' you make me nauseous'
But Pepe had heard,
' you make me nachos'
Go figure.

11/25/10 Alton Texas