Us versus Them, Them versus Us
We might die without successfully changing
our names on a government database
but we know how to live, and we use our hands
like peeling rubber until nothing is left but smoke
We might die without successfully changing
our names on a government database
but we know how to live, and we use our hands
like peeling rubber until nothing is left but smoke
Reverb raving DJs / Pitchmen sealing deals / Charming you al otro lado the other side / With dollar saving steals
Visitors tell me what Laredo needs
is more, / and I ask them how much more / do they need for us to give / in order for them to finally feel
satisfied?
tonight / everyone is the love of my life: / the beautiful boys and girls and / the queens and the queers / the drunks in the parking lots / the lovers in cars with tinted windows / beggars and strays pleading for / scraps
Vamos a caminar, / a darnos una vuelta alrededor del rancho. / Es un buen ejercicio, para el cuerpo y para / el alma.
I didn’t know then that, / ultimately, my mother was all alone, despite how much people envied her / Verónica Castro eyes, despite her three children always trying to please her, / watchful for the ways we could be exactly who she wanted us to be.
The muddied streets and occasional puddles dampening our Vans. / We arrived and watched, silence curling up between us.
Infrarrealista Review is a literary nonprofit dedicated to publishing Tejanx voices.
