What is Brownsville?

 "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