Sixteen Purple Platters...

and an unwanted baby in an underbelly.







-------------...---------------------

Pause, you homo-hag
take a drag off that fag
slip on that laugh
twirl that split-ended tress
sunglass the dots that read:
"papi, I ain't ready for real hands."

-------------...---------------------




Fifteen green apples...





and a pill in the upper belly.

mami

Loudly I remember "la condenada muchacha" spilling screams in stores for new crayons you never denied.

I learned how to jump rope, tie my shoes, read, color in the lines, and reject naps at four.

Today I am four again, wearing the curls you tempered and the laugh you never gated.