Istanbul Literary Review - 3rd Year Anniversary Edition (#12)

Esperanza For Pale Face

Charles P. Ries

In San Miguel de Allende
I drink tequila, look at the women,
sit in the churches and sip cafe el negro.
Angels whisper to me in Spanish,
but I don’t understand them.

The women here are godlike.
Glorious and bronze skinned.
They love their brown men, but don’t look my way -
Ghost boy is too white.
Pale face is too dumb to para hablar espanol, except
       “Quiero una margarita por favor.”

The Indians say San Miguel slew the serpent here.
In steel breast plates, girded loins and a silver sword.
Looking feminine, yet firm.

When Christ rode into town
the Indians didn’t throw their gods away.
Pagans make ambivalent Christians.
       Jesus chased the devil out of town one day.
       Seven gods saved them from Jesus the next.
Time to chase the devil from my mind,
       “Quiero una margarita por favor?”
       rocks, salt, and a cross to hang on please.

Charles P. Ries

USA

Charles P. Ries lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His narrative poems, short stories, interviews and poetry reviews have appeared in over two hundred print and electronic publications. He has received four Pushcart Prize nominations for his writing. He is the author of THE FATHERS WE FIND, a novel based on memory and five books of poetry — the most recent entitled, The Last Time which was released by The Moon Press & Publishing. He is the poetry editor for Word Riot. He is on the board of the Woodland Pattern Bookstore. He is a member of the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission and a founding member of the Lake Shore Surf Club, the oldest fresh water surfing club on the Great Lakes.

Istanbul Literary Review - 3rd Year Anniversary Edition (#12)