There's A Place
Dedicated to Juchitlan, Jalisco, Mexico

there's a place
where a roosters crow
serves as local alarm clock
education comes while
milking an overprotective cow
who'll strike you
if you approach her child

There's a place
where Catholic saints come alive
and the holy ghost gives
Grandma's arthritis
entire days off

There's a place
where grandpa
works another man's land
and still smiles after 16-hour days

There's a place
on an unpaved road called memory
where having "nothing"
becomes a blessing.

And in that place
callous hands salt tortillas
and Holy Ghost believers crawl
adorned with crowns full of thorns

somewhere in that place
a man forgets INS 'migra' raids
television's hypnotic rays
and the constant spit in the face
for being broke and uneducated

That place
where roosters crow
cows protect their young
and hope grows faster than weeds
I once called
home.

Written by: cesar a. cruz - teolol