I ask you about your family all of the time
A-,
Because I have none of my own, and because that
I would die for yours:
...
I made the sign of the cross and other
Holy anachronisms that my name could not provide,
Then we cut out of the square dance and went to a private
Rink amidst the sun-vanished trees:
...
On loan from the washbasins of mandevilla,
My scars make no pronunciations of their own:
They are the love letters to the death
And blind who fall asleep through their troubles
...
Head strong boys with championship toys
Bric-a-brac and march along,
Drumming the footsteps of a forest’s song,
Like in bed I touched Alma’s knee as tiny as a doll’s
...
These words who burn my throat like lies:
Alma says that I am a liar,
That I am always lying: but the clouds lie too when they
Seem to perceive the images of our language,
...
Your daughter’s body was sick today, and I could not
Help it
With the customers coming in and buying corn fifteen for
A dollar until my parents painted over the sign:
...
Burning through the spirits of your ancestors,
Alma,
I’ve begun having feverish dreams of the skinny valleys of
Guerrero Mexico,
...
I met you the Monday after I was robbed at gunpoint:
You were beautiful right away, Alma,
But I could ignore you, because I’d just bought lingerie for
Diana,
...
I have questions to fulfill about you:
How many men have you made love to in your life:
You made love to me on Monday until your husband called,
And you had to leave because you are his
...
The great waterfalls flow and take their clothes off
For men:
The cars stop and gawk, and the tourists grin:
And when I sleep and without motion I move,
...