THE MAN WITH CHE GUEVARA'S FACE Poem by Washington Cucurto

He got a tattoo of Che on his shoulder
when nobody got tattoos at all and
no one even knew about Che.
When that was still going on, he got the tattoo.
"Why'd you get a tattoo of Che?"
My grandma asked him, "That's what men do
when they get out of prison," she said
"And what do you think life is, Mother,
if it ain't one big prison."
When nobody got tattoos at all, he
got a tattoo of Che on his shoulder
centuries before Che was Che;
the man did that before
all of this happened.
Today, a day before Christmas
I call him to wish him Happy Holidays.
He answers totally drunk.
Happy to hear my voice but all the same
says something to me about snow -
"You're a simulation in the snow."
My father has gone back to lady liquor.
He's returned to her.
"Your kids are so beautiful, brother!"
My father calls me "brother."
Dad, tomorrow is Christmas.
"I regret having got the tattoo of Che on my shoulder.
I regret everything, Che included."
His Che, our childhood shoulder Che.
"Che's gotten older on my shoulder than I have," he tells me.
My father has gone back to lady liquor.
My father falls on his shoulder.
"Don't forget me, brother," he says.
Never. I answered, and put down the phone.