| Daniel Thomas, continued. |
Wet Passage
Rain falls on late night border city. Dogs
whine to get in. Hillsides threaten collapse.
Darkness judgement embraces Tijuana
while cantina artists drink tequila.
Jet roars from Otay airport howling climb
over river and downtown colonias.
On Revolution Avenue, wet shaved
heads argue and fight against each other.
Poet slips girlfriend past to taxi home.
Copyright © Daniel Thomas 2003
|
Revo @ 06:00, 17 Sept 2000
Final all night dates and hookers pass each
other silent glances on the sidewalk.
Mariachi serenades and taxi hustlers
strum and honk their Sunday morning high.
Dawn leaks down from cloudy sky, pulling up
staircases, shuttering doors, sweeping trash.
Hey honey, got a cigarette, want some head?
Going to be another hot one today.
Copyright © Daniel Thomas 2003
|
en la ballena
en la ballena
bailando |
cantina |
in the whale
@ 03:33 a.m. |
| con/with |
los artistas
dancing |
|
| toman cerveza |
|
tequila |
| |
y cigarros |
|
| de cual |
time
la hora |
of what
ofrece
offers |
| |
. |
|
la barra
sala de
room of
the bar |
ya
sillas
chairs
now |
profesa
y mesas
and tables
shows |
| |
|
. |
| la cantina dice |
|
|
| |
|
welcome
drink |
| bienvenidos, |
toma |
|
| |
. |
|
| Todavia está |
joven |
la madrugada. |
| The after- |
midnight |
is still young. |
| |
. |
|
| 03:53 that |
increible |
hora |
| |
unbelievable |
hour |
| . |
|
not yet four |
| when they |
shuffle to |
their seats |
| seven beers |
14 tequilas |
|
| and 20 dances |
|
later |
the norteño |
still rolls |
|
| todavia rueda |
el norteño |
|
que llegan las quatro horas
that four o'clock arrives
y todos sentados
piensen de dormir
and everyone sits
thinking of sleep.
Copyright © Daniel Thomas 2003
|
Daniel Charles Thomas, aka 'Tijuana Gringo,' was born on Alameda Island
in San Francisco Bay and grew up in San Diego on the Mexican frontier. He has also lived in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and
Chicago, and for the past three years has divided his time between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California.
Thomas' web page (whose address will be changing soon) can be found by searching
any engine for the phrase 'Tijuana Gringo.' His epic Codex TijuanA shared First Place in the 2000 Ford/Frontera
Binational Poetry Contest.
Contact the author at: thomas@masinternet.zzn.com
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