Born in Mexico, Luis lives in California and works in Los Angeles. His poetry has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Kendra Steiner Editions, Mad Swirl, Unlikely Stories, and Yellow Mama Webzine. His latest poetry book, Make the Water Laugh, was published by Rogue Wolf Press in 2021. 

The Cruel

The cruel will give you nothing
you could use. They will gift you
shoes after cutting off your feet.
They will give you gloves after
cutting off your hands. The cruel
will give you nothing you could use.

They will build you a house where
you could stay. The toilets will not
have handles. The electricity, gas,
and water will stop working when
you need light, heat, or a shower.
The house will seem like a prison.

The cruel will provide you with a job
to do. You will not make enough
money to eat well, to dress yourself
warm, or to find decent shelter.
The cruel will provide you with a job
to do or a bullet hole if you complain.

Back on Track

If I went off on a tangent
like some stranger who has lost
his mind, do not look at me as
if I cannot get back on track.
I have deliberately gone mad.
I do not think it odd at all.
It is hard being calm in this world.
I push my hands toward the sky
and welcome the full moon fever.
How far gone can I go?
I do not have a clue.
I will get back on track
and start the slow rebuild.
Should I even get back on track at all?
This is the farthest I have ever
gone from the man I used to be.

Fooled to Believe

I have been fooled
to believe in
what could be, an
alternate world
of possible
hopes and dreams, as
the real world fades,
I close my eyes.
I listen and
hear what I want
to hear. A bird
sings. A dog barks.
Music blares from
a car speaker.
The song speaks to
me and then goes
away. I find
reality to
be a pain in
the neck. I lose
myself in things
that are unreal
and yet real to
me. I am much
too fragile to
deal with real life.