Cindy Primero

Ode to East Los Angeles

by Cindy Primero

I want to be doused
in tacos

& fried. I want
to wander

the aisles, my heart’s of El Super
supermarket stocked high

as diabetes. I want to die
with acrylic nails on-

I want to live forever in a
Garfield sweater,

a bulldog on the front.
I want to have

more than ten items in the
express line. I want to clean

my driveway clean

myself, late after everyone
is a asleep-

that’ll put em to shame -
I want to see what the sun

sees before it tells
the rain to go. I want to be

the only Hispanic person I know.

I want to go to
sleep late & not

Complain to get up early.
I want to walk

to Whittier blvd. Why drive -

I want love, and stuff -

I want to sew my broken heart

I want to run down the ocean

& make it my bed-

I want to walk
its muddy sand

& make me a withdrawal.

I tried going in,
found it cold-

I’ll go home, I guess,
to my house where the moon

changes & shines
like computer.