Maria did warn me once,
with all the love between her teeth
between smile and poetry
said; "I was like you, once upon a time.
I used to hate all of it but now, now
I'm so deeply in love with all that we are"
somewhere in between rebellion
and youth I replied "No, that won't
happen to me, I will never love this"
in these cold days, the warmest thing
I have is the beat of my heart,
the rhythm in my hips-
step into the bus and look around me,
all these people who look more like death
than human. Who smile with nothing
and no one. I put the earphones
inside my ears and fly elsewhere
sing to myself softly
"Ahola que llueva cafe en el campo"
and I smile honestly, and humbly
and my feet move without asking anyone
for permission. I think about Maria, about
my mother.
Maria, now,
I don't just understand you-
better than that, I feel you
here in this eternal winter
there is a fire ever so vibrant inside
of my chest. There's Marco Antonio Solis
Celia Cruz and Juanes
between irony and tears,
I whisper:
"Thank god for all this live inside me,
thank god for all the seasoning
my mother gave me
