"What is Brownsville?"
A Barbacoa breakfast on Sunday morning
or a midnight drive thru Whataburger craving,
A late afternoon sunset over the resaca
or the early morning call of the Chachalaca,
A virgin Mary sticker on the back of a car
or a Dallas Cowboy helmet sitting in a bar,
Food stamp Maria wearing sweat pants all day
or sophomore Maria working hard toward degree,
The old blackened outdoor barbecue pit
or the shaded little porch where the old folks sit,
The gnarled twisted finger like branches of Mesquite
or the places around town your family and friends meet,
The red, white and blue the stars and the stripes
or the eagle and cactus of red green and white,
A scorching summer day of one hundred degrees
or a late December cold front of shivers and freeze,
Border walls and violence, a cartel stronghold
or a quiet place to live, to work and call home,
On the border by the sea
or a tall lofty palm tree.
Title: What is Brownsville
Description: a poem- by Carlos Rodriguez
