| A pipe pierces | ||||||
| the channel | ||||||
| in half | slices | |||||
| with its narrow slit | ||||||
| not of water, but mud | ||||||
| from the river that is not a river | ||||||
| it forks | then spills | |||||
| at the border | ||||||
| In the hills, | ||||||
| crane threads hang | ||||||
| skeletons of buildings | ||||||
| amidst | ||||||
| those that lie | ||||||
| clustered | creeping | |||||
| We arrive at la linea | ||||||
| tin passengers | ||||||
| we slither | ||||||
| through yelling horns | ||||||
| rubber | ||||||
| treads | ||||||
| over oil puddles | ||||||
| piss mirages | ||||||
| rainbows of spit. | ||||||
| A white number flickers | ||||||
| on the black screen | ||||||
| minutes overheat into hours | ||||||
| “Güerita,” the vendors call, | ||||||
| get for Abuelita’s dining room | ||||||
| the green card holder’s shop | ||||||
| lacquered clay in busts | ||||||
| of Obrador | ||||||
| of Trump | ||||||
| The Three Little Pigs | ||||||
| Division of | ||||||
| exchange rate from peso to dollar | ||||||
| as in before | ||||||
| (the pre-Columbian gold doubloon). | ||||||
| El Niño becomes a torrent | ||||||
| drags, spills, | ||||||
| drowned objects | ||||||
| from houses, | ||||||
| bursting down into El Hoyo | ||||||
| draws skulls of knotted hair. | ||||||
| When it spills | ||||||
| Tihuan, place beside the water | ||||||
| its cliffs | ||||||
| molder over the waves | ||||||
| they bury | ||||||
| Kumeyaay kichas | ||||||
| the rancheria | ||||||
| their brothels | ||||||
| tits with fallen stars | ||||||
| instead of nipples | ||||||
| The current | ||||||
| has been carving | ||||||
| these mud columns for centuries | ||||||
| the dizzying sun | ||||||
| still burnishes backs | ||||||
| stooped over | ||||||
| sunflower crops, | ||||||
| seeds thirsting | ||||||
| as harvest seasons pass | ||||||
* El Hoyo is a neighborhood in Tijuana (translates to “The Hole”) that is in a land basin.
