pena de muerte
by robert karimi

In memory of Bobby Vasquez (age 17) shot 3/30/95 & Cesar Rene Arce (age 18) shot 1/31/95.
Both shot for tagging. R.I.P.


angered. citizenry come up to me.
and complain about graffiti.
calling me every night
saying its urban blight.
and i say
“why haven’t you complained
about the pigs in black and white
that litter the streets of San José, San Francisco, San Antonio.
every Friday night.”

they respond:
that este chavalo
on the west side of San Anto
deserved to die.
hunted down como un animal.
car tracks followed
and gunned him down
in a pool of blood he lay
with his home only 30 yards away.
all for his name he wrote in chalk.

y las niñas en mi bloc
do that shit everyday
playing hopscotch on my sidewalk.

sin cuete. sin cuchillo.
este niño no tuvo suerte.
porque le dieron la pena de muerte.


bomb...ssssssssssssssssssstt.
bomb...sssssssssssstt...
bomb.sssssssst... bomb.ssst.. BOMB
as the moon shines bright on L.A.

angry middle class gringo
takes a gun wherever he go.
scared of the other brother
who’s brown and a “threat” to his humanity.
walks down the avenue
thinking red, white and blue
as he tries to play darryl gates lapd
by narcing on some taggers that he see.

angry middle class gringo
don’t like graffiti in his hood.
says it’s urban blight
and that’s not right.
but he guns a chavalo dead
and in the paper then next day
you know what i read:
GRINGO. HERO. KILLS. LATINO. ZERO.

the DA cried justifiable homicide.
and the angry middle class grin-go
he didn’t hide his pride.
he said on the ra-di-o :
“it’s la culpa de su madre
porque él no have un padre
y por eso hay un..
(.how do you say funeral...)
luto
por este puto.”

with no luck. no gun. no knife.
no luck. no gun. no knife.
no gun? no knife?
no gun... no knife... no life.
he gave him the death penalty.
le dio la pena de muerte.

4/11/95; 4/25/95; 6/99
© 1999-2003 robert karimi

Click here for a printable version of this poem.