BIO
Samuel Arizpe is a Roman Catholic priest serving in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. In December of 2011, he received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a focus on Poetry from the University of Texas—Pan American. His journey through life is also a journey into, and with, poetry; so he is always looking for new paths, new poetic voices to read.
Let’s Not Tell Amá
Let’s not tell amá about oblivion, about broad shoulders
Or big bats, let’s just say she tried throwing apa off a bridge
And that a joto cruising Preston Street intervened and wrestled
Him away from her, let’s not go to Midnight Mass, or drink chocolate
Con canela or eat another docena of tamales borrachos, let’s just
Take in the supple drum major from behind through our binoculars
And notice he has small ears, and which foot he taps when excited,
Because on Fridays apá always said, let’s gamble, let’s make this
Building collapse, and crawl out, let’s float past the lotus leaves
For a deep drop into American hell, let’s celebrate our dookies,
The chora, the rhythmic space with no scaffolding, no anodyne,
No marshaled pieces or eclectic energy, and no talk, just a memory,
A dream that amá had: on the wood’s edge near river banks we
Are fragrant angels and turtleheads, lamb’s ears, and blue pearls,
In the morning a part of the sky, and at dusk, ribbons of birds