Eduardo R. del Rio

Nowhere

Spit out of my land

like Jonah from the whale's belly.

Uncomfortable in my own skin and constantly molting.

Three faces in one.

Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Mexican

all revolcao.

Coño, puñeta, and chingao.

I'm a chameleon with dried skin.

Maybe a lightning bolt or slow death will make me whole.

Maybe it'll come to me in a dream.

One of those dreams where you're sitting in a field of daffodils

and puffy clouds above look like elephants and bears.

Or maybe one of those dreams where you're falling

or being chased by giant scissors.

Those frightening dreams where you wake up in a cold sweat

and then realize you're home.

Bio

Eduardo R. del Rio was born in Cuba and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico and has lived in deep south Texas for 25 years. He is an NEH Fellow, author of CubaRican, a bilingual book of poems and stories by Mouthfeel Press, One Island Many Voices by the U of Arizona Press, and editor of The Prentice Hall Anthology of Latino Literature. His collection The Lost Train and Other Stories is forthcoming this fall from FlowerSong Press. Additional poetry and prose can be found in Solstice, The Bellingham Review, Pleiades. Label Me Latina, The Journal of Caribbean Literature, Voices de la Luna, and elsewhere.