you stopped your cart in front
of a Lady of Guadalupe
mural surrounded by prickly

pear cactus and rose bushes
Pray for usit pleads to the left
of the portrait
to the right desperate altars
gather

you a fruit vendor
refuses to have her
picture taken
a blue and red
apron an unassum-
ing rosary around
your wrist and a Tejas
baseball cap hiding
your distressed hair
scrunched up nose
and sincere smile
not an image you
want to perpetuate
for women out there

a gift upside down prayer
cards no charge are placed
next to the watermelon
cucumber and limes
attracting the worst kind of
failures the dreamers
melon slices coated with chili powder
one foam cup shaved ice
a slicing knife in one hand
a dying hand in the other

a mural is vandalized by your own blood
your miracle is late.

---

Fernando Gomez grew up in the Segundo Barrio in El Paso, TX. He studied English and Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin and currently studies Professional Poetry Writing at the University of Denver University College. Fernando considers himself a public intellectual and is passionate about social and cultural issues. His poetry is drawn to the thoughts of shame, vulnerability, and compassion that enter the edifice of the night.