Xicano
as light
shaped by trajectory.
a wind settles in the body.
Echécatl the breath, the flint & spark.
the house of prayers.
I am
when sounds exchange questions
when light enters the lung
when given
the noun: a variable absence
a law pinned to a quail's wing.
Credit
First appeared in New American Writing. Copyright © by J. Michael Martinez. From Heredities (LSU, 2010) by J. Michael Martinez. Appears with permission of the author.
Author
J. Michael Martinez
J. Michael Martinez's collection Heredities was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera for the Academy of American Poets' Walt Whitman Award and was published by Louisiana State University Press.
Date Published: 2010-01-01
Source URL: https://poets.org/poem/xicano