Guadalajara
Sabes que te quiero mucho
Hemos tenido una relación larga
y fuerte

We’re celebrating our
21st anniversary
As soon as I deboard
your scent fills my mouth
I breathe you in —->
the damp clouds
sweat, indigenous exhaust
ancient ubiquitous death
life popping
green, yellow, indigo, green
new money

You are beautiful chaos
a child I adore
that was never mine
just borrowed
who’s grown up suddenly
without my permission

I’m aroused
sex wafts, lingers, warms
seeps in everywhere
your dark well eyes
curly decorated words
narrow hips
designer clothes, exclusive drink
exquisite meals
antro rhythms and beat
early memories triggered
by cues outside my awareness
folded into my Being
permeating my Soul
an old familiar script I pull out and dust off
a luscious set of roles
I slip into
comfortably
like you
into me

The puddles of daily rain
reflect the trees on fire
fierce orange flames
cupping the sky or
perky rounded blooms
purple as royalty
flaccid fuchsia petals
flutter and cascade
in the languid melting air
everything drips

Who do you think you are?
I liked you better without your
periférico, your casino neon
Swim & Fitness
Oakland School
Chili’s, Applebee’s, Johnny Rockets
Costco, Kripsy Kreme
and brand new stadium
¿Cuándo te hiciste más gringo que los gringos?
Maybe I’m old now.
But didn’t I teach you
to learn from our gringo mistakes?
I suppose every adolescent
thinks they’re the first
to invent the world

Pero tú sabes que te quiero mucho
Rodo y rodeo
por tus avenidas anchas
We roll and roundabout
and it’s a good thing
I’m a little crazy too
otherwise your drivers
desastres y desmadres
would have been my death
a long
time
ago

Instead
they remind me of a dream
they revive me into life
and back
into sleep.

© S. Rinderle, 2014