DREAM OF THE NEEDLE

She was the ugliest woman I’d ever seen
ugly in body and spirit
she hulked and loomed over me bearing down on me
she wanted to stick a needle into my neck
I kept fighting her off
she said, Look you’ve got this thing on your neck and you need the needle
I don’t have anything on my neck, I said
Oh my god, she said, Doesn’t it hurt?
No it doesn’t hurt, I said
I ran away from her and after a while I entered a classroom
a woman was teaching class
the blackboard was filled with a writing I didn’t understand
I said, Can I speak to you for a moment?
she was annoyed but agreed
I asked her if she could see anything on my neck
Oh, my, she said and took a photo
in the photo I could see my neck was a mosaic of cut glass
triangular shards all slashed through it shining and reflecting
like a grenade of mirror had exploded on me
Doesn’t that hurt? she said
No, that’s the strange part, I said
There should be some pain, she said
Do you think I need the needle? I said
The needle is the last thing you need, she said
Then what do I need? I said
I have no idea, she said, let’s ask the class
we turned to the children sitting at their desks
and every one of them had their hand up

A TOWN OF 10,000 VIRGINS

Natalia buys a big altar candle
lights it and places it at the foot of the giant Virgin of Guadalupe
down near the fishing docks
hoping this will help her heal and be whole and happy again
the Virgin’s got seagull shit on her face
we watch the men pull their boats down
and slip them into the water
a couple men get into an argument because it’s crowded
it is a beautiful sunny morning and the sea is as calm
as blue stationary before the plastic is ripped off
other boats are coming in already
filled with slimy fish covered in flies
we decide to take a walk and go down to the Malecon
where the vendors are as aggressive as piranha
trying to sell us stupid worthless junk
sunset cruises where the tourists get blasted on cheap tequila
and the music booms so loud it breaks the pelicans’ eardrums
we look for whales but see none
just the big rusty shrimp boats miraculously floating out there
we walk through the charming streets above the Malecon
think how quaint it would be to own one of the cute little houses
with a balcony and an ocean view each day
all the balconies are empty
I suppose people get bored of it
and we’d get bored of it too
there’s the lighthouse restaurant up on the rocky hill
the highest point in town
the only people who can afford to eat there are wealthy travelers
almost every house we walk by has a Virgin statue
or a Virgin painted on the patio wall
or in a tile mosaic
each with that same sad face
a town of 10,000 Virgins
it’s been so long since we’ve made love I feel like a virgin myself
we hold hands as we stroll down the avenue
we don’t say much
Natalia moves her lips in silent prayer
I think about that glass of vodka
big as an altar candle
I will pour burning down my throat when we get home

THE PUPPY

The only thing that keeps Suegra from going completely nuts
is her grandson Pedrito
Pedrito is her rock
he’s the only reason she has for living
Pedrito turned 8 last week
he said to Suegra,
“I can’t have a birthday party this year can I Nana?
It’s ok, I know it’s because of the virus.”
Isabella brought a puppy over to the house
as a birthday gift for Pedrito
she left the puppy with a bag of food
just as Pedrito’s mother had left him with Suegra
when he was 3
but the food soon got eaten up
and the puppy shit on the floor and Pedrito didn’t seem too interested
he only wants to play video games
they didn’t even name it
Suegra gave the puppy away to a stranger walking by the house
the stranger took the puppy thinking it was his lucky day
now there’s one less mouth to feed for Suegra
and a little less shit on the floor
never give somebody an animal as a gift
unless it’s an animal you can eat
preferably already butchered
it doesn’t matter if your heart is in the right place
or not

QUE TRISTE

Jose Jose is dead
Mexico is in mourning
2 weeks of drama on the tv
his songs nonstop on all radio channels
the problem is he’s got family in Mexico and family in Miami
Mexicans have big families that’s no secret
they’re fighting over where to bury the body
they could cremate him and then split the ashes
but they won’t do that because he’s Catholic
they’d rather fight about it
his song “Que Triste” is pretty good
powerful stuff back when they knew how to make music
not that crap like they have nowadays
“Que Triste” means “How Sad”
it made me cry the first few times I heard it
Natalia and I used to watch videos together and drink beer
those were good times
long gone now
Natalia doesn’t drink anymore because of the sickness
I drink enough for both of us and a couple more people too
but I don’t cry no matter how much I drink
or what song I am listening to
I usually just get angry
sometimes I get mad at death
sometimes I get mad at myself
sometimes I get mad at Natalia
sometimes I get mad and I don’t know why
death is the main thing I think
death and dying
I probably need therapy
I wonder if Jose Jose went to therapy
his family needs to go to therapy from the looks of it
fighting and fighting over a corpse
it’s funny that his name is just the same name twice
when I die bury me wherever you want to
you can burn me up that’s fine too
hang me in the town square for all I care
and play whatever music at the funeral
long as it’s not Pitbull
or Duran Duran

SUPERMAN DREAM

Woke up early to take Natalia to the urine lab
they always want the urine from first thing in the morning
“maple syrup urine” as David Foster Wallace said
back home we both crawled back into bed
soon I was dreaming I was Superman
I had a job as a waiter and I was a super waiter as you can imagine
flying over the tables
filling peoples’ coffee from above
cleaning 3 tables in a single bound
there was no need of any busboys
I ran the cash register too
I never pilfered
I even refused all tips or if they insisted I donated them to the homeless
one customer said, “The service was super”
he thought that was funny
the owner of the restaurant sat at the bar scowling at me
What’s your problem? I said, You jealous?
Jealous? he said, No way
Everybody wants to be me, I said
Nope, he said, I wouldn’t want your problems
What the hell do you mean by that, Mr. Gonzales? I said
I think you know what I mean, he said
after my shift I sat at the bar and drank 46 bottles of tequila
trying to figure out what he was getting at
soon I had to take a piss but couldn’t find the dick-hole in my super shorts
woke up again
walked to the bathroom like any regular man
with a dying wife and a flabby gut
flat feet on the hard floor tiles