"Guy"
| I knew a boy named Guy with sea blue eyes and long black eyelashes He would pick buttercups for me. "You like butter" he would say as he held the flower under my chin. He would hold my hand at recess in first grade, while the other children laughed "He's not right", they would say, Because they couldn't speak Spanish. "Te amo" he would say, and call me his "novia" "¿Quieres casarte conmigo?" he would ask "But we are too little", I would say thinking he was silly. He'd stand on the church steps waiting for me to run and play with him. When it was raining, his sister would drive him so he could be with me. He would never leave without a kiss. At lunch time he would share His fish sandwiches with me And laugh as I tried them and winced I would offer him my peanut butter and jelly He declined because he liked his "pescado bocadillo". He invited me to his birthday party Where everyone spoke differently. They would laugh heartily as I tried To speak Spanish. Guy's father would show me his guns He was obviously proud He explained that guy would have one too As soon as he was old enough. "Guy is a bum" my Grandfather would say Because he couldn't speak Spanish. He would talk to my Grandmother About why "we" let his family into the country And let his parents run a grocery store In a nice American town. I didn't understand. One day I came into school to find an empty chair beside me. The teacher never explained. I always wondered what became of the boy Who was supposed to teach me Spanish. I thought he would never leave without a kiss. I remember the boy named Guy Cloudia With sea blue eyes and long black eyelashes. He would pick buttercups for me. |