"Always throw the first punch" (1980)
My uncle always insisted,
“strike the first punch,
put your enemy on the run.”
I always threw the first punch,
I remember,
“attack, attack, attack,
put the hurting
on his limbs,"
I remember,
I remember
the night my uncle
got angry because I said
his wife thought his nuts
were christmas walnuts
and that she cracked them
every day of the year,
his left arm twitched,
I leapt at him
and struck first.
Copyright Credit: Miguel Algarin, "“Always throw the first punch” (1980)" from Survival Supervivencia. Copyright © 2009 by Miguel Algarin. Reprinted by permission of Arte Público Press.