For the Other World

By Ray González

For those who ran in the streets,

there were no faces to welcome them back.

José escaped and loved the war.

For those who swam with bitterness

of a scorched love,

there was a rusted car to work on.

For those who merely passed

and reclined in prayer,

there was the tower and the cross.

For those who dedicated tongues

to the living and dying,

there were turquoise painted doorways.

For those who left their children

tied to the water heater,

there was a shout and a name.

For those whose world

was real and beautiful,

there was a cigarette and a saint.

For those who asked José

to stay and feed his children,

there were flowers at their funerals.

For those who carried a shovel

tattooed on their backs,

there was a wet towel and a bottle.

For those who swept the street

of superstition and lie,

there was the house to come home to.

For those who came home late

and put their swollen feet up,

there was love and the smell of dirty socks.

For those who feared the devil

and spit on his painted arms,

there was a lesson in rosaries.

For those who had to leave

before the sun went down,

there was asphalt and a bus.

For those who stared at wet plaster

and claimed the face of Christ appeared,

there was confinement and stale bread.

For those who talked with each other

and said it was time to go,

there was lead in the paint and on the tongue.

For those who left children behind,

there was a strange world

of sulphur and sparrow nests.

For those who accused their ancestors

of eating salt, there were these hands

tracing what was left after the sweat.

Copyright Credit:

Ray Gonzalez, “For the Other World” from Consideration of the Guitar: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 2005 by Ray Gonzalez. Reprinted by permission of BOA Editions, Ltd.

Source: Consideration of the Guitar: New and Selected Poems (BOA Editions Ltd., 2005)