This poem is one (if not the first poem) ever published in my life. The poem is a reflection of my hometown, Huhi.
If You Ever Visit Huhi
if you ever visit Huhi, find my parents,
they live in a small house with mud walls.
they must be old by now, but they are waiting
for me. tell them you saw me here in the desert,
alone, and thirsty. tell them i want to come back
home to rest in peace in my hammock. tell them
i have not slept for years and i want to dream again.
if you ever visit Huhi, go to the cemetery and find
a grave, newly dug. find don juanito, tell him
i am coming home soon. tell him my parents will
pay him with two chickens and a dove if he gives
me lots of water when the droughts begin,
i am thirsty and you do not know how painful
it is to be thirsty and have no water to drink.
if you ever visit Huhi, find doña micaela,
mi abuela, and tell her to cook me a good cochinita pibil
with lots of red onions, and chiles habaneros.
tell her to bring it to the graveyard every dia de muertos,
so those who have no one to cook for them
can taste it, too. tell her i miss her cooking
and her laughter, please if you find her alive tell her
i always think about her and my grandfather, el leñador.
if you ever visit Huhi, go to the church and find
el padrecito and tell him to offer a mass for my
soul, a mass will give me strength. knowing
someone is waiting for me makes me happy.
tell him i am coming home soon, my parents
will pray to the Virgin de Guadalupe a whole year.
tell him if he has some left-over wine, he can
pour some on top of my grave. i am thirsty.
if you ever visit Huhi, wait in the dark alleys
i once roamed, listen to my cries, be silent, do not
be afraid, as it is only me, your old friend,
the one who roams the desert. soon, i will arrive
at the town where i was born many summers ago.
if you ever visit huhi, visit the lagoons,
you will find me there drinking
water as i am dead and very thirsty.