SARGASSO


CONTAMINATED BY AMERICA



 Contaminated by
 America I buy
 machines to help
 me do what my hands
 can do.

 Wear braces, stretch
 my skin, tuck
 in my tummy, lift
 up my chin.

 Demand that all
 parks and unheated
 apartments be rid
 of god's vermin, his
 unelect.

 Kneel in tax-
 sheltered churches, pray
 from a holy comic
 book and give early
 sunday morning testimony
 of my born-again
 hate.



 Alfredo Villanueva
 Hostos Community College
 New York