poem of the day 05.24.11

they will ask me

--after the regional elections
in spain

they will ask me
if i brought them anything
back from spain

i will joke with them

i will tell them
that i brought them postcards
and magnets

t-shirts and shot glasses

only i left them
sitting in the souvenir stores

i will tell them
that i brought myself back from spain
and isn’t that good enough?

only that will be some kind of lie
because i don’t feel the same

i surely don’t think the same anymore

they will ask me
why europeans hate us

because they always ask this question

someone will ask me
what the tacos are like in spain
or if they had any cool
cinco de mayo stuff

so i won’t have to answer
the question about why europeans
don’t like americans

i will tell them that europeans
don’t understand americans

why there is no universal health care
here in the states
why the poor vote republican
and try to keep each other down

i will try to explain the terror
of franco that still exists

movement
and the fear of over 20% unemployment

they will tell me
america love it or leave it

i will be inclined to accept the latter

only i’ll stay silent
as they turn away from me to talk
about some celebrity divorce
or the hot new reality show

i’ll think about walking grand via
in the spanish sun

or the protest kids
who were packed 28,000 strong
in the puerta del sol

fighting so hard not to become like us

failing beautifully

but at least they tried

and they will ask me where
i’m going to go next

i will tell them that i don’t know
i simply do not know.