Louie the Mongoose—Killer of Snakes

By Salima Rivera
(Que viva ... )

The judge intoned, “Guilty on all counts,”
evenly subtracting time from the life
of Louie the Mongoose.
Louie, so shy yet so eager to get involved.
Louie beating skin and keeping time
forging poems in heated passion.
WE ARE THE RAINBOW RACE!
Viejitas rocking fat, brown babies
on wrinkled knees.
Students after their Bull Shit degrees.
Even the hard assed homeboys on the corner
having no time for his unity rap
fell into his rhythm as he gave them
searing poems to burn into
bi-cultural minds;
cutting words honed in resentment,
bouquets of poems lovingly fashioned
in city blues, Latin reds and battle grays.
His verse tried to wake us from soured dreams,
warning us of the venomous snakes
crawling into our beds,
in our heads;
gold- and silver-fanged reptiles
fattened on the blackest of oil,
reddest of blood.
His anguish flew from an outraged soul,
“¡Despierta Boricua, defiende lo tuyo!”
His truth, fluttering its mutilated wings,
fluttered, fell upon the conquered ground
trampled by the feet of the masses
waiting for the coming of the twin bastard gods,
Fortune and Fame.
Exchanging his pen for a gun,
the poet took aim
and Louie the Mongoose,
killer of snakes
was found guilty
of loving the best in us—
our nation Borinquen.

Notes:

“Louie the Mongoose—Killer of  Snakes” was first published in ECOS: A Latino Journal of People’s Culture and Literature 2, no. 1 (1982), and subsequently published in It’s Not About Dreams (Erato/Poetry, 2014).

This poem is part of the portfolio “Salima Rivera: A Chicago Rican Poet.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2024 issue.

Source: Poetry (March 2024)