¡Poesía está en la calle!
Resistencia Bookstore
casa de Red Salmon Arts
1801-A South First St.
Austin, Texas
(512) 416-8885
revolu@swbell.net
Renacen los huertos,
también los muertos.
El día de los muertos
por siete minutos
podemos platicar
con los seres queridos fallecidos
I remember
tagging along
chasing my abuela
to el camposanto
to sell paper flowers
to make the somber tombs bright
That was back in Mexico
I was only seven years old.
Here in the U.S.
los muertos
are persona non gratas.
Here we do not wish
to hold dialogue
with los muertos
They remind us
we too
will eventually join them.
Here there is no luto
and there are no novenas
or puños de tierra
Here in the U.S.
the idea is to hide,
to ignore the dead
and to even avoid death
in our conversations.
in Mexico la muerte
is well known.
She’s la talaca, a feminine figure.
Our Puerto Rican
brothers and sisters
Call her “la flaca.”
Talking with the dead is necessary
to remind ourselves
to enjoy our lives
and not to go about
as if we already died
and no one said good-bye or cried.
