Josiah Luis Alderete is a full blooded Pocho spanglish speaking poeta who has been an active part of La Area Bahia’s Spoken Word scene for over twenty years. He was one of the founding members of outspoken word group The Molotov Mouths and is the curator and host of the long running monthly Latinx reading series Speaking Axolotl. His book of poems “Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos” was published in 2021 by Black Freighter Press. Currently he tends the 24th street portal as one of the owners of Medicine For Nightmares Bookstore & Galeria and resides in North Richmond where he is waiting for Quetzalquatl to arrive.
Divina Visitación
La Snakey Skirt a.k.a La Divina Nalgahyde Nalgona
guides us down Calle Figueroa
-which is really the Universe
-which is really the Seven Cuevas
-which is really Tati/Tato’s memorias
Patas y patas y patas past old ranflas that never left the block
down to Culebra Park con los shadows y las piedras y the shapes in the trees y el umo
“La luz del Sol is a specific kind of gold around here”
La Snakey Skirt a.k.a La Divina Nalgahyde Nalgona says
showing us the parking lot spot
where the elote once grew to feed the pueblo
“This tierra was used by many back then
this new concrete belongs to only a few
and that’s hard for some pendejos to understand
because they don’t realize what was really here”
There’s rust on a metal nail salon door in the shape of a Madre’s heaven
that La Snakey Skirt a.k.a La Divina Nalgahyde Nalgona
takes as an offering
and a polaroid picture appears in el cielo as a new constellation
A vaquero viejito walks slowly past us, faded flannel shirt, vaquero boots
he use to be a guapo talking chile pepper painted on the side of that taco spot
on the escina of Avenue 50
and now he can’t remember where he is or who he once was
La Snakey Skirt a.k.a La Divina Nalgahyde Nalgona empiesa a llorar
but nadine can see it
Her lagrimas turn into sips of a papaya licuado
as we walk behind the buildings ignoring the whitemna’s graffiti
por que los valle madre
pass a chain link campo santo that use to be a curandera’s jardin
on the ground there’s an old pair of pantalones that once belonged to Huitzilpochtli
La Snakey Skirt a.k.a La Divina Nalgahyde Nalgona
puts on the pantalones veterano cuffs the bottoms
Becomes a quesadilla de huitlacoche
Becomes a quesadilla de flor de calabaza and says
“Take this all you Pochos y Pochas and eat from it
for this Barrio is one of mi many bodies
which was NOT given up for you.”
