On the riverbank
Jump in the dirty river
Put your head underwater-breathe
Inhale deeply, choke, cough and spew out the debris
No Te metes metiche
Mind your business
And leave my life alone
On a mountain
Try and jump
See if you can fly high with the birds
Soaring high and squawking like an eagle looking for its prey
Tu eres un cabron
You are a bastard
But you’re cool
On a cliff
Look down at the sea crashing on the rocks
Try to imagine
Constantly being pounded becoming eroded and scarred with time
Pinche puta madre
Fucking whore mother
“Hey, don’t talk about her like that. “
Standing on the roof of a skyscraper
People are as small as ants
Don’t jump
Think of your loved ones and how much you’ll be missed
Chinga su madre
Go fuck your mother
What the Spaniards said about the Mexican women
Sitting in the forest looking at the trees
Bring a rope
But don’t use it
Life is worth more than that. Life is grande
Ojala
Maybe, hopefully
Things will get better
Posts
This is hard hitting and powerful. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anthony! I was trying to stay away from the norm here and it was difficult. Again thank you.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the pacing, the angry, bitter bad words followed by the breath-filled, "Ojala" - think I will throw that into my English conversations. I have been known to use some of the others...
ReplyDelete(I finally wrote my RWP for this week, too. PHEW!)
Thanks Julie,
ReplyDeleteI was very late with mine. It is funny when you translate these expressions how foul they sound. But when people here say them it just doesn't come across that horrible. Thanks for commenting.
Pamela
I like the way the strong opening
ReplyDeleteOn the riverbank / Jump in the dirty river / Put your head underwater-breathe / Inhale deeply, choke, cough and spew out the debris
is followed through so fully in the rest of the poem.
Paul thanks so much for your kind words. I was worried about this poem because of the foul language. Here in Mexico it just doesn't sound as bad until you translate it. Then it changes the whole scenario.
ReplyDeletePamela
Wow this is really powerful. The visual structure and the mix of Spanish and English makes for a fascinating read.
ReplyDeleteThanks James this is away from the norm for me. But as always I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeletePamela