For Tin, whose family is going through some changes these days.

Detrás de nubes
Luce un sol brillante
Saldrá, amigo

A rough translation:

Behind the gray clouds
Shines a beautiful, bright sun
It will come out, friend

sunday uniform:
frilly lavender dress and
patent leather shoes

such a lovely look
ruined by a tear-stained face
and ear-splitting screams

young frazzled parents
struggled to calm lil’ cindy
they failed miserably

maybe it would stop
by the time they arrived home
her dad wondered, hoped

but cindy cried on
forgetting the denied cone
that sparked the tantrum

her mom suggested,
remember what mary said?
it can’t hurt to try

her dad just nodded,
kept his eyes on road ahead
tried to keep his cool

five minutes later
they pulled in to the driveway
with screaming daughter

her mom left the car
daddy stayed with his lil’ girl
she needed silence

back in the caprice,
the battle intensified
neither relenting

get out of the car,
he commanded his daughter
she kept on screaming

frustrated at last
he picked up his daughter and
marched in to the house

he passed his bedroom
where the leather belts were stored
they weren’t needed

his wife followed him
knowing his destination:
the hallway bathroom

cindy never stopped
not even when she found herself
clothed in the bathtub

dad turned the cold knob
cold drops rushed down and soaked her
but it didn’t work

as her dad sat stunned,
she howled, ¡mi vestidooooo!
and stomped in the tub

fearing his anger
he decided to just leave
he needed a drink

[Thanks to Kris for suggesting I write a story about my or someone else's childhood in haiku format.]

The good thing about being part of the Puro Pedo Magazine project is that it gets me working on writing that’s neither for my blog nor for classes. Weird, I know. I’ve always had it in the back of my head that I’d like to be a writer, but never done anything about it aside from take a class, read a book on the subject, and go to graduate school where I’m forced to research, think and write.

Thanks to Puro Pedo, I’ve been writing haiku again, something I did daily for the first half of 2005 (remember that project?). We’re planning to include Chicano haiku from readers in the next issue.

I wrote more than 30 today… 31 to be exact.

We love Chuck Taylor’s
Oh, simple, canvas tenís
Such a timeless sole

Chicano Studies
Classes where we’re all experts
But nobody reads

Middle class raza
Invade East Los eateries
Men reek of cologne

A poem recipe:
Equal parts caló, Spanglish
And Nahuatl to taste

His deep, dark secret?
On more than one occasion,
He’s shopped at Wal-Mart

Chilango rockers
Slow to produce new album
Yet still draw huge crowds

Still don’t understand
Obsession with Morrissey
I’m not from East Los

Cinco de mayo
Sponsored by beer companies
Ignored by Raza

Rule: never admit
You grew up in the suburbs
Teasing will ensue

La Ugly Betty
Lacks power, respect, works hard
Yup, she’s Mexican

Haiku from the first half of my trip to Mexico last year.

12.18
At the borderlands
I make my last call to Ralph
I’m gonna miss him

12.19
“Smells like Tijuana”
We’d say when fumes mixed with trash
Stale odor remains

12.20
Return to small town
Looks different than memory
Feels much colder too

12.21
The Jerez jardín
Filled with dominoes players
And resting grandma

12.22
This pueblo is dead
There’s no one home in houses
Until October

12.23
Aunt receives photo
Begins to tear up at sight
Of smiley uncles

I wasn’t quite as disciplined as when I went to Mexico in 2004, nor as insprired. Oh well, I’m working on writing again.