by Mireya Perez Bustillo
…………For María Moreno Pérez and
…………Antonio Pérez Rincón
He arced his tongue to reach the fly
the only part he could move burrowed
in the camouflage of sand in the bed of the arroyo
soiling his tended grey softness embedding nettles.
In the hacienda Holanda by the river Tunjuelo
doña María ordered the baskets to be packed for market.
Pedro, the mayordomo, was sent to saddle the donkey.
In the bed by the creek he rolled in the scrub and played dead.
On the bridge by the river, don Antonio, impatiently
paced on his stallion, Cerezo.
Doña María in her riding skirt
held back her nervous mare, la Geisha
even the children were sent to search.
Running after the overseer, Pedrito, Carlitos,
Martita, Conchita, Pilarica and baby Tina
trampled lettuces and cabbages and played
“rabbit” biting off carrot heads. .
In the confusion baby Tina climbed
In the laundry basket falling asleep among
the camphored sheets and was not missed
‘til doña María said they’d have to take
the wagon and where was that bendito
animal and it was always the same story
every Thursday day of market.
Hearing the thump of the wheels
the donkey stretched shaking twigs
calling to him the great mastiff, Orlando,
who was in charge of misleading the search.
Mireya Perez-Bustillo writes poetry and fiction in Spanish and English. Her poetry appears in MOM’s EGG; Caribbean Review; Americas Review; Dinner with the Muse, IRP/LP2 Voices, among others. Her novel, Back to El Dorado (Floricanto Press, 2020), a Latina coming-of-age story, is available on Barnes and Noble and Amazon sites.