being cheated on poems
Three Poems by Cindy Jiménez-Vera
Cindy Jiménez-Vera
A bucolic poem
The river dried up because it doesn’t rain.
The road that connects the countryside
to the city was turned to pieces
under the heavy showers
back when it did rain.
They closed the only grade school in town
on account of no more children,
say the elders of the land
shriveled as they are like when you enter a river
and stay in for too long a time.
Lucky Strike
While killing cockroaches in the bathroom of an apartment that will never be her own, she notices she’s menstruating. As she enters the shower, a drop of blood stains a lotto ticket on the floor by the wastepaper basket.
“The fact that it’s already at 24 million is a sure sign I’m not a winner.”
For now
In the same way
that credit card bills
come and go
that the noise of the collective
generator leaves us deaf
during blackouts
that the mortgage bank
threatens to take away
all private property
—this leaky roof—
the most public
of all properties
your smile
—which belongs to me
tax free—is enough
for now.
