for Ito Romo
You come from that country
where the bitter is more bitter
and the sweet, sweeter.
You come from that town split
down the center like a cleft lip.
You come from the world
with a river running through it.
The dead. The living.
The river Styx.
You come from the twin Laredos.
Where the world was twice-named and
nopalitos flower like a ripe ranchera.
Ay, corazón, ¿tú que sabes de amor?
No wonder your heart is filled
with mil peso notes and jacaranda.
No wonder the clouds laugh each
time they cross without papers.
I know who you are.
You come from that country
where the bitter is more bitter
and the sweet, sweeter.