Tijuana

Dusty streets of orange and grays,
Strolling minstrels with floppy hats
Playing songs of rebel lovers.

Mangy curs in bristled stances
Posturing o'er sag bellied bitches
Patiently wetting their puppies.

Hobbled hawkers push wobbly carts
With cherished tender succulent
Tropical fruits on ragged sticks

Squeaky broken accordion
Grasped between gnarled fingers
Playing rakishly to deaf ears;

Shriveled orbs stare distantly
Begging for some recognition
In the shape of squandered pesos.

Colorful dresses swing in the breeze
On vivacious senoritas
Dancing to nationalized tunes,

While white clothed champions
Prance around tattered sombreros;
Feet sandaled in dusty contrast.

Oblivious tourists stroll on
Wiping sweat and dust off pale heads
While chugging from icy bottles,

Rapacious peddlers prey on
Soulless shoppers striving to deal
For wares priced below subsistence.

Ocean breezes pierce stifling heat
Bringing momentary reprieve
From beaded sweat on wrinkled brows.

Odorous dust swirls aimlessly
Through alleys beset by paucity
As ravens argue over scraps.

Clattering and clunky taxis
Belching blackened exhaust from
Broken and dragging tailpipes,

Driven by wild eyed cabbies
With time and money on their minds;
Not one concerned for kith or kin.

Overworked burros stand fixed;
Statues of bone and hair, gnawing
On worn bits of rusted iron.

Drooped heads shaded with ragged hats,
Burdened with overweight gringos
Smiling for faded photographs.

Smokey dimly lit cantinas
Choked with chubby senoritas
Flamboyantly flailing for drinks,

Strutting about selling it all
To lusty teens from bordered lands,
Protruding points of desire.

Sullen and unshaven rogues
Spying from shadowy corner seats
Manipulating shiny blades.

Drunken mariachis plucking
Tuneless instruments, broken strings
Dropping twangs like rotted tree fruit.

Muffled cheers waft over shanties
From excited crowds surveying
Emaciated muzzled hounds

As they streak down dusty raceways.
Graceful, sleek, slender long legged
Beasts racing for dubious spoils

Painted sun sets o'er horizon
Blazing orange upon blue seas
Streaked with foamy white and green.

Roasted smells of succulent meats
Acrid with the hint of chilies
Grown lovingly in tended dirt,

Brings rumbles of wanton yearnings
For belly filling rations and
Cookery that delights the tongue.

Whispering bottles of beer speak
As eager mouths slog down icy
Brews to relieve heated palates.

Brassy tunes dance over cool air
As tiny under lit candles
Dance a dueling tango, softly

Revealing secreted couples
To smiling eyes of aged hearts
That hold forever lost lovers.

Rising moonlight pierces shadows
Exposing tender moments of
Maternal embrace for kindred

Before ushering innocents
To mirth laden imaginings
Of whimsy flights to Neverland.