I like the way the paint peels off the ceiling
at Cemitas Las Poblanitas—full,

satisfying sheets drooping down—and the way
the guitarist laments with his frail voice

as he walks behind us while we shop for shirts
with blue skulls and the city’s name

to prove we were, in fact, here.
I can never figure out what that lady’s yelling—

something about nieve
and limón—or what the kids are imagining

as they run with a wooden cross in their hands
like a toy airplane. No gracias, no quiero

cacahuates, no quiero chapulines o
chocolate. I don’t mind tripping

on the uneven stone sidewalk,
it helps me see.

Brent Ameneyro’s poetry has been featured in songs, publications such as the San Diego Poetry Annual and Seven Circle Press, as well as in a large-scale art installation. He was the recipient of the 2019 Sarah B. Marsh Rebelo Excellence in Poetry Scholarship, 2020 San Miguel Poetry Week Fellowship, 2020 Master’s Research Scholarship, and the 2021 SRS Research Award for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice.