11 August 2007 | Vol. 7, No. 2

Ni Te Cases, Ni Te Embarques

by DIDI MENENDEZ

You left your hat on my bed

I wanted to tell you there are flowers

growing out of my head

You said the price of gas has gone up

I wanted to tell you there is a cricket

in my ear rubbing its feet

You said there is a war

I wanted to tell you there are ladybugs

making a nest in my vagina

It is Tuesday

ni te cases, ni te embarques

Tia Nena is at the kitchen table

Her wrists have scar tissue

My mother is throwing the tarot cards

My father is smoking a cigar watching

La Lucha Libre

You are in Vietnam

I am 12 years old

I am listening to the Beatles from my room

My sister is combing her kinky hair

My grandmother is drinking two fingers

of Chivas on the rocks and kissing la

Caridad del Cobre

I am thinking of you in Viet Nam

I don't know your name

You left your hat on my bed

I wanted to tell you there are mushrooms

sprouting from my toes

You said you were going to mow the lawn

I wanted to tell you there is a foot of snow

outside of Miami in the summer

Don't you know that you don't place

your purse on the floor unless you

want to lose all your money

Don't you know you don't place

a hat on a bed without someone dying

Don't you know there are bees

making a honeycomb

inside the sockets of my eyes