Behind the glass of the Ole Ole Restaurant
a mannequin Mexican stands sentry
twitching moustache and sombrero.
His rainbow-woven poncho drapes
exotic commercial viability:
tamed, idealized, fetishized.
Across the street,
in ragged jeans crouched,
tired brown men wait
along the sidewalk
for the next job.
They pace and patch the borders
of someone else’s
American dream.
RED GLADIOLA 