Anthology

Distrito Federal

Charlotte LeBlanc

 

Poverty cakes the streets of Mexico City
where seldom tourists venture
They do not want you to see the empty eyes
and emptier bellies of children
who attack unfortunate recipients
of begged pennies and filched dimes.
You should spend your money
in the gilded parts of the country.
There, only the keenly sensitive
can still make out the faint odor
of fear and desperation
amongst fragrant food and flowers.
You are surrounded by barrios
that know nothing of vacations
they only know that the blind
never last long in the Mexican capital.