Thursday, December 11, 2008

Zen Beans: Frijoles De La Oya Fantasy

Mom's clay bean pot
Lopsided aged still works.
A plate on top to create steam.
"Comida de los pobres"
(poor people's food)
But so rich.
Frijoles de la oya in a plate;
a dash of cilantro
diced onions
maybe some tomato.
Pinch of Mexican cheese
Freshly made flour tortilla
A spoonful
of fresh salsa.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Chicano Haikus: One Hand Clapping

Never Seem To Learn
Bold Gringo there
"I just love hot peppers", he says
Jalapeno strikes again!
Matamorphasis
In the garden
corn cobs hide.
Tortilla maker comes!
Cultural Conflict
Pig-skin
You make footballs.
We make Chicharrones!
Chicano Hangover
Man in pain there.
Bowl of Menudo.
"No mas", he vows.
Chicano Nightmare #1
Light skinned
Jose Sanchez on the beach
squeezing Coppertone there.
Northern Delight
Hot from the stove
A flour tortilla
butter dripping from the ends.
Hamburger Helper
Her hamburger comes
Woolworth lunch counter.
Jalapeno from my mother's purse.
Supply and Demand
One bean burrito
for two Baloney sandwiches
even trade at lunch!
Chicano Nightmare #2
Short, dark-skinned Jose there.
"Como te llamas?" He's asked.
"No espiko di Spanich", he says.
Chicano Nightmare #3
Pedro went to Pete
Maria to Mary
Jose to Joe!
Chicano Nightmare #4
Jose, Concha, Pedro and Margarita
all listen intently
Black rapper on Cinco de Mayo!
Brown Dreamer #1
On the hot desert borderland
A rattler slithers
The body of an illegal alien.
Brown Dreamer #2
To a plump round belly
Maria takes a kitchen knife.
Baby oozes out in a land of plenty.
Brown Dreamer#3
On a hot summer night
a siren wails.
Mario on life support.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

A Mexican Schindler?

Just read that Gilberto Bosques Saldivar was recently honored (posthumously) by the Jewish Anti Defamation League (ADL) for helping to save as many as 40,000 Jews and other refugees from Nazi persecution during WWII. He was a Mexican Consul General in Marseilles, France in 1939. He rented two chateaux for Jews and refugees and in two years issued about 40,000 visas and chartered ships to take them to various African nations and from there they went on to Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. When I first met my wife in Mexico City in 1965, her mother owned a small beauty salon that served many Jewish clients. They spoke flawless Spanish and had smoothly assimilated into Mexican society.