RED PURSE FULL OF MARIJUANA AND TEARS by Catfish McDaris

Kaleidoscope plumbago on a zephyr wind
jasmine, honeysuckle, and lilac perfume
wafting in the vibrating heat wave as I wait

Rivers thunder mellow jazz ravens dancing in
the banana trees, time is wiser than people,
dying is just waking up on another tomorrow

Tears of God the panther ate the rose, a delicious
morsel of ghost, memory, rain, for two months
I waited by the house in San Angel and Casa Azul

Sitting for a cafecito and churro, a red purse full
of marijuana appeared, soft hands covered my
eyes, “Do you like mota, gringo?” she asked
“When I was a hippie, I toked,” “What’s a hippie?”

I told her as we took a taxi to a park where they
trained bulls for the corrida. “When the matador
kills them I feel their pain, like my accident.”

 

Catfish McDaris is from Albuquerque and Milwaukee. He writes to keep his sanity. Most of the time it works out. 

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