La Pura Neta

This is the second time I see you and you are no longer a little boy.  You're much taller, your hair, you've let grow.  You are a young man with a crown of cornrows.  We meet in the city, with your dad, at a sidewalk cafe. You walk away from my view. Maybe to pick up our drinks.  Your dad speaks to me this time. He's no longer the brooding man on the couch. Y our dads  much older since I last saw you. His eyes are droopy but they rise when he speaks of you and when he smiles. His freckles show more; on his nose bridge, on the high part of his cheeks. His dreds  are thicker but the color is lighter, like brown, smoky, dusk. His glasses are the same thin metal frames from always. He t ells me how well you're doing. How well your both doing. How everything is well. I mention your grandmother- I heard about your mom.  I reach out and place my hand over his-  I'm really sorry.  Your dad's bottom lip quivers and he gives me a nod.  You come...

Yo soy Mexican. I no longer live on the bridge between my past and present, I am the bridge and my lengua is Chicano.

these words you reading                   are me. if you need more,                         you aren't feeling me.

I like when our home is clean everything piled up nicely like snow

our language isn't broken phrases but limbs of speed handshakes in forms of wings conveying hope in the everyday holding each other up from the grounds mud deep in caged parks

I went to an art show on Friday, March the 3rd. It was a small gallery, with open space, white walls, and rustic corridos channeling from the speakers. ~*~*~*~ The artist "performed" an act of release by pouring water into crystal glasses, dipping her fingers into them, and rubbing her fingers on the rims of the glasses. It was a rubbery kind of sound that, after some time, turned into whistling chimes. ~*~*~*~ As she maintained the chiming sound of the crystal glass she said, "If you will, close your eyes. Think of one word that signifies what you would like to release"                                                        "and take a deep breathe"                         "now exhale." Tears roared up past my throat. My nose flared, my jaw jittered, my teeth bit my ...