It's 60 degrees
and the sun is shining;
all is well
in Aurora, Illinois.

On this particularly
beautiful spring day
a güera sits upon her front porch,
watching the kids
play ball in the street.
She enjoys the peace
of this bloom-worthy,
blue-skied day,
sprinkled with
the sounds of children
and elotes men,
all calling for her
to come out and play.

But, not so secretly,
she longs for those upcoming
summer months,
when the daytime will be hotter
and otherwise unchanged,
but the nighttime...
the nighttime (and its
sticky, lurking heat)
will bring an evening
soundtrack of banda,
gunshots, rumbling motors
and fireworks
(well past the date
of the American
Independence Day).

From the prime viewing seats
of the rickety balcony
of her hundred year old house,
she will case her own street -
perching just close enough to
feel she's a part
of this community,
but just far enough away
to know she's only
an observer.
She'll see it all
as la chota crawl down the streets,
seeking to end a celebration
that will never cease.

At 90 degrees,
when the sun has gone down
in the City of Lights,
that is when
she will be pleasured
by the reminder that
sleep and peace
are for the dead;
that is when
life will begin again...
Renacimiento in Aurora, Illinois.

04/05/2008

Posted on 04/05/2008
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