Ethnic Poetry
The ethnic poet said: “The earth is maybe
a huge maraca/ and the sun a trombone/
and life/ is to move your ass/ to slow beats.”
The ethnic audience roasted a suckling pig.
The ethnic poet said: “Oh thank Goddy, Goddy/
I be me, my toenails curved downward/
deep, deep, deep into Mama earth.”
The ethnic audience shook strands of seashells.
The ethnic poet said: “The sun was created black/
so we should imagine light/ and also dream/
a walrus emerging from the broken ice.”
The ethnic audience beat on sealskin drums.
The ethnic poet said: “Reproductive organs/
Eagles nesting California Redwoods/
Shut up and listen to my ancestors.”
The ethnic audience ate fried bread and honey.
The ethnic poet said: “Something there is that
doesn’t love a wall/ That sends
the frozen-ground-swell under it.”
The ethnic audience deeply understood humanity.
by Julio Marzán
from Paper Dance; 55 Latino Poets
Persea Books, 1995
[Mending Wall by Robert Frost]