"Can I borrow two eggs?"

LIKE ASKING YOUR NEIGHBOR

TO BORROW TWO EGGS

                --for Jane Lipman

Asking for Federico

gets one in the door

por su puesto, siempre

duen de la casa, ¡Grite--

como Mexicano! carnal--

language always rises--

¡Grite! he dicho, ¡Palabras!

Words march around walls

singing. Hey! As a child

I never cut in lunch lines.

I turned outlaw--

fugitivo--ahora, también, no podría

hacerlo. I can't do it.

The duen de la casa

would have exposed me

by pulling my chair--

after I got through

the door. Ay, cabrón--,

There is only one Federico

Among so many animal paths.

Jim Bodeen

27 February 2019¡