New Man
Grandfather has the world covered in splendor
in accordance with the new man
Grandfather has the world covered in accordances
on the edges of his river
heads of garlic grow
What did you do, Grandfather,
when you saw the ocean for the first time?
Did you play with the sand and with buckets of sand?
Grandfather caresses me
and sprouts beautiful wings
those beautiful wings
should be mine.
Mom and Dad
Any man in spectacles
is my dad
and any woman in spectacles
is my dad
that’s why I appreciate men
and approach women
because there’s nothing like a person
who’s both mom and dad
at the same time
and who lulls me to sleep and wakes me up
at the same time
and who kisses and shakes me
and gives me candy
and hits me
the spectacles must
have plastic frames.
Cemí
We’ve seen you babbling
In utero.
Turning somersaults,
A beautiful contortionist.
We’ve watched you closely.
How to explain
That you have two mothers
Instead of one.
That science defines you
As a boy
And I needed
No science
To know it.
That the weeks
Fly past
And your name has been yours
Since week nine.
How to explain your name
Atop a pile of discarded
Names
And know that your name
Represents you
Before the world
As it does
Before the two of us.
Give me the strength to explain it all
And let me understand
At least the basics.
The Belly
Facing the Mississippi River
My belly didn’t show.
In the 75-dollar-a-night motel
My belly didn’t show.
Beside the statue of José Martí
We bumped into by accident
My belly didn’t show.
At William Faulkner’s house
Where I went cold and stiff
My belly was nothing.
At 45 degrees Fahrenheit
It’s like the belly hides.
The only soup I could eat
Was crab soup
And my belly didn’t notice.
Dipping a warm beignet
Into a cup at Café du Monde
My belly stuck out a little
But no one saw.
Sitting in the grass in the park
Savoring a grapefruit great as a soccer ball
I heard a murmur from on high.
It was Mahalia Jackson
Gossiping with the trumpet player:
“See that, Louis?
The girl who just walked by
Has two hearts, not one.”
Press Your Hands Together at Chest-Height, Bow Your Head Slightly, Close Your Eyes, Open Your Mouth
Our Lady of La Caridad del Cobre
Holy Mary of Charity
who came to us
over the waters
with water in your ears
with thorns of hope
you’re my mother
the mother of all
of us together
I have a candle
in my throat.
We turn to you
to honor the platter
you broke
as simple and broken
as it is divine
my love is the love
of an orphaned child.
Your mother’s heart
is all we want
we received
a heart transplant.
Neither angst nor hope
neither zeal nor pleas
we turn to you
to make you understand
that you’re my mother
the mother of all
of us together.
You’re more woman than man
and more man than woman
your mother’s balls
birthed children free as birds.
Your children’s homeland
welcomes you
if we’re left without a homeland
then return to the sea
and constitute it.
My family
welcomes you
don’t let a family
shatter into pieces
the family’s children
have stopped growing.
They’ll never be young
or probably
will never be anything
ever again
we received
a heart transplant.
Disease and marginalization
belong to the present
and we don’t exist
my heart
is called the future.
The church
your children attend
has a priest
with two hundred
happy faces
his last message
was a colon
followed by a semicolon
it means he was winking
at us.
Bless my church
holy mother.
Justice without victory
doesn’t secure existence either
make me victorious
and friendly with all peoples.
I have tons
of brothers scattered
across all the peoples of the world.
They’re your children too
you were very fertile, mamá.
Bless you
for already you rise
over the surf
of a furious sea
kill us, mother
at the slightest
opportunity
the need for a heart
may strike us at any moment.
Glory and power
unto us.
Translated by Robin Myers
