The Fifth Commandment

By Juan Morales

Every time Mom wanted to cuss,
she’d say “chuleta con papas”
or “miercoles” instead
of the swear words my dad muttered
toward the heart of the matter.

Porks chops, potatoes, and Wednesday’s
were her musical equivalent to
the “Oh shit” or “dammit” she felt
but never said. Meanwhile, Dad
would corral cuss words from

every cardinal direction. When he would lose
his reading glasses, he’d exclaim,
“Where is that piece of shit?”
Mom surprised us with her calm
“I don’t know where you left

that piece of shit.” I always gasped,
“Mom!” in response. In my dad’s most
flustered moments, we joked
about his ears turning red, then white
and then imagined shooting steam

like a cartoon kettle. Mom somehow
walked into his storm and defused the unfurling
anger until the room was calm again.
In witnessing, they helped me to learn to honor
the profanity of the mother and the father.

Accept their balance
of words to help you
let go of whatever angers
you have clamped
all around your heart.

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Juan J. Morales is the author of three poetry collections, including The Handyman’s Guide to End Times (University of New Mexico Press), winner of the 2019 International Latino Book Award. He is a CantoMundo Fellow, Editor of Pilgrimage Magazine, and a Professor and the Department Chair of English and World Languages at Colorado State University-Pueblo.