Adobo Criollo Sergio Antonio Ortiz Rivera

there's a new flag  flying in Washington after five decades  of antarctic cold, cubana lust  makes me want to dance

for those who borrowed lines from a poem there was shame and a skull tattooed on their foreheads for those who crossed a river barefoot there was laughter and a dry spot on a boulder a hug and a kiss on the cheek for those who  accused their ancestors  of producing sugar there were machetes  waving  in a sea of indifference for those who tucked their children in there were bees and butterflies tickling their noses for those who  recorded sound in space there was a lesson  in coming back  they'll never forget

Spring  the end  of a bad year a noose  suspended over an elm words injured by a dream the opening  of a window that was never  built on a wall the strand of hair from  a murdered pin-up model a dog  with a skateboard  and a cat paddling in the water a pocket full of cicadas

the end  of a bad year a noose  suspended over an elm words injured by a dream