Tomás
Mamá. Go see for yourself.
Puro had babies. He's under the porch.
Listen. You can hear them from here.
I wonder how many.
I can hardly wait to give them names.
Santo niño, Tomás.
Puro can't have babies. He's a he.
Además, es un perro, and dogs
Can't have kittens. Only las gatas.
Que imaginación tiene este niñ0.
But, Mamá, it's true.
Tomás, if you tell lies,
Your tongue will turn into a snake's,
Como dice in las sagrada biblia
Cuando Adán mordió la manzana en Eden.
Pero Mamá. . .
And no one will believe you when you
Have to tell the truth.
El niño Jesus never told lies,
And he made his mother very happy.
But Mamá, you can hear them from here,
And, anyway, the priest told a big lie
At church on Sunday. He told the people
That baby Jesus was born of a virgin.
Everybody still believes him.
Ay Tomás. Go name the kittens.
L. Luis Lopez
From Musings of a Barrio Sack Boy
