the blastin’ radios inside beat up cars
around every corner on da block
With the echo of Mami’s
Te Quiero
This poem looks like an
abstract painting
Filled wit da beats of
Rakim y Ken Y’s “Down”
Frank Reyes’s “Princesa”
Lalo Rodriguez’s “Que Locura Enamorarme de Ti”
with the smooth swirls of my mom’s voice
the spots and lines of my sister’s laugh
the dashes of color
revealing joy that lives at Apartment 14
My eyes are buried inside this poem’s
frame like the vieja of Apartment 1 lookin’ out the window
Becoming mesmerized
…more every second
My teeth bite on this poem
like the tongues of bochincheras
on the corner
whispering chismes about the fulana
who’s going out con el hijo ‘e Maria
I’m stuck in this poem like
the lives of those dropouts on the street
just laying there
I’m home
in the canvas of this poem
where I’m stuck
« return.