Westchester Ave.
summer air
is mantequilla
dripping down
buildings in the Square
it greases our bodies,
jimmied
between taxis.
they park in front of old men
curled in plastic chairs
fuming smoke into the street.
--
Aunt Lisa says the red light
right by Big Pun's barber shop
looks like a reefer-head's eyes
but the heads I know
got eyes small as the space in a fist
nowhere near a stop light.
When she gets mad her eyes are
microscopic, small as fists she throws
like broken bottles at the accused.
Melanie S. Rivera