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.

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.

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.