By Rick Kearns
The Floor is So Cold Life had become so dangerous her abuela could no longer wait for signals from the north. Tiny Angelina was sent into the desert night to escape the war inside the war there was no choice. Big men with strange voices and guns caught them outside the river bed past the barbed wire dawn. She was sent to a hard square room with no furniture no blankets and bright lights on constantly. The floor is so cold she told her sobbing mother, my lips are blue. The men with the guns made me sign some papers. The floor is so cold Mama. When can I come home? Where are you?
Tecoani and Alejandro [Alejandro Mora Venancio was one of the 43, from the municipality of Tecoanapa. In náhuatl: Tecoani means ‘tiger’ and apam means "in the river."] tiger in the river smells charred bones in the garbage pile someone is lying Tiger swims away men with machines bone ash floating everywhere. garbage pile is full today martyr’s boneyard tiger in the river executioner in the palace someone is dying I am Alejandro the swimming tiger is my protector now. The tiger in the river is not another trickster from the north he knows who killed me the tiger in the river knows about the executioner in the palace the TV toadies the men with masks the men with helmets my tiger in the river is waiting it's lunch time
Rick Kearns (aka Kearns-Morales) is a writer and teacher of Puerto Rican and European heritage from Harrisburg, Pa. His poems have appeared in over 70 literary publications, most in the US but a few in Ireland, UK, Puerto Rico, and Argentina. He was named Poet Laureate of Harrisburg in 2014. Kearns has collaborated with musical accompaniment since 1992. Kearns is also a freelance journalist. As a journalist he has written for daily, weekly and monthly news publications since 1986. In the 21st century his work has focused on Latino and Native American issues. From 2006 to 2017 Kearns wrote about indigenous Latin American issues for Indian Country Today which became Indian Country Today Media Network the nation’s largest Native American news publication.