no.

all the bodies

of water in texas

run to the sea

run to the words

of our ancient creed

the body of a man

downed–

corpus Christi

his mother, a lake

and the sound of an island

Father…

 maybe I love them…

because of the Jesuits

because Spanish is a mother tongue

Corpus Christi, Padre Island, Laguna Madre…

all the rivers flow to the sea

all the beautiful rivers–

the Trinity used to be my favorite

even when it would flood

and desperate men would sand bag it

or flee for higher ground

but there are other rivers now

that haunt my memory,

the Guadalupe, for instance

means–

girl comes from wolves

from the valley of wolves

spreads foreign roses at my feet

there is no “g” or “d” in my native language

but then maybe Juan Diego himself was just a phantom

like the pings off a cell

tower

electrical beacons conspiring

with sound

looking for a lost son

what river do you cross

to enter Texas?

and what river do you cross

to leave it?

go down to that River that runs to the sea

and find my boy,

all our lost children

Come Home.

d