observing fiesta through slits
in my mask no one knows me
cares who my father is
why I have no wedding ring
I wear the locked mouth
of Death with a small hole
for spiked Sangria and pulque –
the gods’ drink. Thick and clotted
saliva coats the tongue burns
tormenta shook
through town
stunned branches cling
to my hair aftershock trembles
we eat laugh drink
under redblack sky no one wants
to be alone tonight
the dead ride the ferry back to us
pulque blazes to my thighs
I have never been this young
desperate toes gripping mud
They bite into sugar skulls
chew pan de muerte
pull caramel into bony threads
devour chili'd chunks of cana
burnt corn falls like teeth
fried pork twists
tornado on a spit oil cracks
a child's cry
the last mariachi serenades
red-eyed dogs young man strokes
his mustache stares at a mound
of rotting mango peels and bones
red-cloaked Devil bumps me
stinking beer almost midnight
they're coming do you hear them?
ferry slices through water
scatters fish and garbage
Butterflies cluster over my head
Whisper of wings mother’s tears
drawing near small hand rubs snot
into her dress touches me palm up
Senora she pleads
Madame Lady
I feel for my mask
they're here!
long fingers grasp
noses suck me in
I grab her hand to keep
from sinking
in the mud
A vein of light slashes
our touching fingers