Pa’ Huele
by Alfonso Sito Sasieta
after Eddie Palmieri
My hermeneutics are consistently poor
& whether I am reading the Word
or dowsing my head below
a faucet of Palmieri, I always
forget the point is to rinse away
the night butter & grease, to feel
the grace of a million drops
swashing the brain clean
of its clutter. The essential
broil & steam of the morning—
all heat & no meaning.
Soon & very soon, we are going
to get to all that, but first
the chest must open
to the comatose
metronome of this son
& the slow burn
of its conga. I thought
this song was a sweltering
shower. I did not think
the fount of every
brass spout would spit
out something else entirely.
Soon & very
soon, the trumpet
in this montuno
will burst into flame,
& when it does,
will you help me
exegete
the sweat
on God’s face?
Alfonso “Sito” Sasieta is a caregiver, poet, dancer, and father. He lives in Maryland, outside of Washington DC, and he works in a L’Arche community where adults with and without intellectual disabilities share their lives together. Half Lutheran and half Chinese-Peruvian, he enjoys writing poems that explore the mixedness inherent in the musical, spiritual, linguistic backgrounds from each side of his family.
