THIRD WORLD

his eyes lined with Oxhuacan water

trapped by blistering

peeling walls

no toilet

dripping coldwater basin,

first constipation

then the runs…

all day long…

revengeful dreams play in his head

northamerican monster moneymachine

gobbling up darkskinned niñas

firewater without a cause

stranded in this pueblo

his eyes lined with halazone water

scars from his culture-

how ghastly must

the sins of Cortez be

for los indios to still fear him,

that pathetic missionary?

how ghastly

it must feel

running backwards,

barefoot,

across endless fields of manure

and strawberries

Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico

1980