Strange to be sitting here
in the twilight years
on this patio bar looking out on 
the Zócalo.
All the restaurants have patios
facing the square down here
because the weather is so beautiful,
while ice buries the north 
and war rages in the east.
I order another Sangria.
I’ve gotten partial to Sangria lately
because I believe there’s less alcohol
so I can drink more of them

Every night is October 31st
You know the time of year,
EL Dia de los Muertos,
Halloween, All Saints Day,
the time when the veil between the two worlds is the thinnest.

Ghosts speak to me at night
the number of ghosts is incalculable
infinite
crammed into my dreams.

I bring back fresh knowledge every morning
like honeydews cleaved in half
the small seeds scooped out
the green flesh glistens in the sun.

Everyone gets to take one secret
to the grave 
whether it’s something you did 
or something you didn’t do 
or something that happened to you
a crime 
an accident 
an affair
a betrayal 
whatever.
There are some things other people just don’t need to know
that you don’t need to say
ever 
ever 
ever.

There are two couples sitting
at the table next to me,
all from North America,
gringo land. 
I hear one couple say that they’re
from Minnesota.
I can hear this because they are
talking so loud,
as gringos do.

Oh how nice, the other couple says,
they’re from Virginia, they say.
And on it goes.
I try to ignore them,
but then they start comparing travel notes
as gringos do.

I am sitting in the Embassy
waiting for my number to be called.
There’s a plastic chain that divides
where the U.S. citizens sit
from where the locals sit.
I’m on the U.S. side.

Some of the people sitting with me
have lost their passports
or have had them stolen.
I am on a simple mission –
I just need a form
to prove I am receiving
my Social Security.

It was a time when the local police
were being heavily militarized,
marching around in new uniforms
and new weapons.
Racism was endemic in the language,
and de facto segregation was everywhere,
although nobody used that term for it,
but hate crimes were clearly increasing,
although the state called them
civil forfeitures.
And the legislators keep passing
new laws
restricting where people could go,

To be born female
is to be made crazy.
You soon learn that your purpose
is to let a man inject you with seed
so that you will incubate babies.
You will be given dolls
to practice with.
You will be given rituals
to explain it all.
You will be indoctrinated.

I love women

I love everything about them

the way they smell

the way they look

the way they sound

the way they plot

the way they twist the knife in

the foolish mistakes they make

to compensate for the worse mistakes

that men make

for example,

I sat next to Sheila in the bar last night

and she was telling me that she always

asks a man on the first date if he’s open to marriage

Cuando vivía en la costa norte
por el mar
en esa pequeña cabaña
millas de nadie,
que era bastante agradable.
Nadie vino a visitar.
No hay Internet.
Sólo yo, el vino, y mi computador.
No había nada más que hacer
así que escribí todas las noches.
No pensé que yo era feliz.