Tijuana--1969 (In Poetic Prose)

Tijuana—1969
(In Poetic Prose)


Off to Tijuana! Tijuana! Past San Francisco,
L.A, and through San Diego—; then across
the boarder we walked, parked the
car on the American side. Walked down the
sunny street, bars, strangers, food carts
and dollar, dollar,— dollar signs! Peso
thin, dirty signs. Music blaring every-
where; marijuana breath, here and there—
and dollar, dollar—peso signs!
Slums, and bums and thieves, eyes staring
from across the street. Drunkenness along
the walk, me and my brother Mike, talk.
Hands pointing, whores murmuring:
we’re in a Mexican labyrinth, “yaw, yaw!”
I sigh…walking behind some buildings,
a dark-eyed beauty says, “Over there!” she
says it aloud, even points, there are men
watching, heavy brutes, with hard
boots, under a new hip sun. They will come,
later on, come for the dollars, Pesos.

#2239 2-8-2008