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
Un Hijo de Laredo

A poem by Michael Casso
THE RAGE IN MY EYES IS HERS TOO

A poem by Silvia Castanos
An American Ride

Reverb raving DJs / Pitchmen sealing deals / Charming you al otro lado the other side / With dollar saving steals
ala madre

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?
Laredo Carne

Saturday in Laredo / Feels like love is in the air.
somewhere on Iturbide Street, i’m falling in love tonight.

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
Perspectives Gained from Los Ranchitos off Hwy 59

Vamos a caminar, / a darnos una vuelta alrededor del rancho. / Es un buen ejercicio, para el cuerpo y para / el alma.
Un Poco Manic

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.
Watching the Rio Grande Crest at Father McNaboe Park

The muddied streets and occasional puddles dampening our Vans. / We arrived and watched, silence curling up between us.