YELLOW ORANGE RED DEAD / *image by Amalie Flynn*

Virus Como Chocolate

In the Dead of Summer I wake to every color but the black in my eyes the dry in my mouth the fake justice tattooed on a flag stars in drag locked-up in a box at the top-left: you see, we will continue to smile even without teeth without peace without the privileged never leaving our sheets because rainbow rainbow rainbow rainboi

In the Dead of Summer cotton linen nylon shut my mouth and I cannot swallow cannot sing cannot moan and on hospital beds others foam facetime the new normal birds running into the windows into reflection into sanitized jail where you cannot pass Go and collect $200 cannot stop it from coming and claiming what’s already dead: expiration date dripping off forehead dripping into IV bag into a collapsing body

You see, because China because virus because Trump the greatest country in the world is dumping dumping bodies like trash because no masks no beds no ventilators no vaccine: and winter into spring into fall into lockdown and I can’t tell the difference between water and chocolate anymore

Pancho Villa, César Chavez y Luis Lopez-Maldonado

Race floats back and fourth between us
because Amerikkka is still wrong, still shooting
our people from behind, raping us from behind,

pushing us to the side, brown bodies bruised like bats,
our lungs lives livers struggling to survive in the streets
whites claim as only theirs. Green trees turn

yellow orange red dead, and still we are the only immigrants
in this country no-where-togo-no-where-tohide-no-where-todie.
Siguemos peleando su batalla hermanos compadres.

Popular kulture is peachy as puke, candidates like Trump
trying to build a wall in our land to keep us out,
calling us rapists drug lords thieves and illegals:

But my tongue will never hide behind brown lips and I will
continue yelling fuckyou’s and chupa mi verga güey! I will
stand tall, gold crucifix wrapped around brown throat
and fist up towards heaven, pounding the sky with orgullo.

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Luis Lopez-Maldonado

LUIS LOPEZ-MALDONADO is a Xicanx activist, poeta, playwright, dancer, choreographer, and educator born and raised in Southern California. He/Him/They/Them earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California Riverside, in Creative Writing and Dance. His/Their poetry has been seen in The American Poetry Review, Foglifter, The Packinghouse Review, Public Pool, and Latina Outsiders: Remaking Latina Identity, among many others. He/They also earned a Master of Arts degree in Dance from Florida State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame. He/They are currently adding glitter to the Land of Enchantment, working for the public educational system as a high school Bilingual Educator and Special Education Teacher, holding a Pre K-12 Special Education License and a Pre K-12 Specialty Area License, with endorsements in TESOL, Bilingual Education, Performing Arts, and English Language Arts. He/They are currently a candidate for the Education Specialist Certification and State Administration Licensure at the University of New Mexico.