How to Help First-Generation Tenebrist Succeed
Enter EL LICENCIADO
twenty-something lawyer fresh out of law school
all sweaty and shaking and willing
He asks VOICE-OF-ICEBERG
how to interpret a hen
how to make sense of rotting dog on sidewalk
där är min symmetri?
what style of architecture is this
why is the window facing the ground
are there any safety measures should I be concerned
am I unsafe is someone drinking water from a dirty puddle
Not a single discernible pattern data is insufficient
our gorgeous cloud has nothing similar to this
a comparison is next to impossible you should go back
says VOICE-OF-ICEBERG
Oh man this can’t possibly be a house of abidement
says EL LICENCIADO
As it melts under August heat
THE VOICE OF ICEBERG hisses
this is this is the smell
of spilled and possibly stolen
benzine and human waste
this is this is the smell
of burning herbs that lack a Wikipedia entry
Enter EL LICENCIADO
tall and smart and shaking
as he sings to himself in outrageous lyric voice
This is where bad teeth lurk
you [comma] a shark of mercury or rouge [em dash]
a drowned and silky body swimming in sand
[stanza break] I tried to save you but I didn’t try at all
and one day you’ll realize I come
from the wrong side of beauty [comma] too [maybe a full stop]
There is a long line outside the jacal
close to the tropic of cancer almost south of eden
supply and demand have determined this is where pain is the cheapest
Workplace Wellbeing Day
Enter EL BRUJO
No one knows his real name
because he doesn’t have one
EL BRUJO wakes up sometimes as a brujo
sometimes as a bruja
sometimes as neither brujx
LA BRUJA has at least two cellphones
one for the living Que onda como estas?
and one for the dead קאמר מאי
It is pretty expensive to call to the other side
he says as he admires his glittery toenails
The one-room shack in which she conducts her art
is unclean and unclean
spirits come down all the time
to feed off from the saffron fragrance
coming from numerous altars
arranged by effectiveness of power
and overall beauty
EL BRUJO calls them LOS MEJORES
DE NOSOTROS the best among us
lest they get mad furious at him and poke out his eyes
There is an inverted diagram of the tree
of death next to an upside-down
figurine of the santa muerte
She is being punished for not helping
the thin man with the exposed intestines
She is the best-dressed entity in this neighborhood
Death fails us all every now and then
said LOS MEJORES DE NOSOTROS in Hebrew
Death is always an option
a special occasion
a special location
an angel in scripture and deportation notices
Sergio Sarano was born and raised in northern Mexico. He is a bilingual poet and translator. He received his MFA from Columbia University. His poetry has been published in Poetry Pool and elsewhere.
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