Nebraska
La luna
Sang the miles por los palos
de Nebraska
You bunch of lights
And houses How did you walk
to this place
Buffalo Bill
Better know him some Spanish
Para Horses ride
rubber horseshoes
moderno.
El café
Boiled water/no milk in sight.
Homes that will travel interstate
8 o tomorrow in the morning
for the next edge of town.
The cowgirls/the local rodeo
As they galloped by their hair
unmoved by 15 miles per hour wind
It seems that 25 pounds of hair spray
is enough to hold a mountain down
Their hair style longer than their
faces.
Que Pasa?
Y los palos
do not feel at home any more
La luna
goes round the star dotted cielo
Let’s watch
In this part of Mexico
Se habla inglish.
Copyright Credit: Victor Hernandez Cruz, “Nebraska” from Maraca: New and Selected Poems 1966-2000. Copyright © 2001 by Victor Hernandez Cruz. Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press. www.coffeehousepress.org
Source: Maraca: New and Selected Poems 1966-2000 (Coffee House Press, 2001)