Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal was born in Mexico. His lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His poetry has appeared in print and online since the 1980’s. His work has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Fixator Press, Impspired, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Mad Swirl, and Unlikely Stories. His books and chapbooks have been published by Alternating Current Press, Deadbeat Press, Four Feathers Press, KendraSteiner Editions, New Polish Beat, Poet’s Democracy, Rogue Wolf Press, and Ten Pages Press (e-book).

Dearest Companion

What choice do I have
but make loneliness
my dearest companion.

Don’t feel bad for me?
I prefer it this way.
I orchestrated this.

Crowds make me anxious.
It is too much work
to try and fit in some days.

I am not cantankerous.
I am friendly if you
must know. Take my word.

I am one of those people 
who prefer to be alone.
It is not the kind of loneliness 

where depression takes
hold. Who does not feel
sad sometimes? Look at how

the world is falling apart
right before our eyes.
In my conversation with

loneliness we keep hope
alive for a better world
where tyrants are buried

and forgotten. This is a
poem. This is just a poem
about the world I live in.

Feeling Low

Feeling low,
wish I was
home in bed.
For all I
know I can
bet the bed
wishes I
could be home
to warm up
its mattress 
with the lights
down low, and
the big soft
pillow for
my sad head.
It is six
a.m. Why
do this to
myself? I
should have made
better life
choices. I
could retire
early if
I had made
the right moves.
Is this me
talking or
the bed that
is at home
waiting for 
my return?

Mexican Coke

Medium, Large,
Extra Large, 2X.
As the size
of my pizza
orders have changed,
so has my shirt size

My pant size and belt size
have increased 
in size as well.
Salad is wack I heard
say more than once.
The dressings make it  tolerable

I get a bellyful 
of laughs at the taqueria 
by my compadres when I ask
for a Diet Coke to go with
my al pastor and carne asada
tacos order.  I must have either
a can Coke or a Mexican bottled Coke.

There is Horchata, Jamaica, 
And Tamarindo too,  
How easy it is to twist my arm
I get the bottle because it
reminds of being back home
in Zacatepec Morelos,
where the only ICE I saw was
in the buckets where they stored the Cokes.