stupid america

stupid america, see that chicano

with a big knife

on his steady hand

he doesn't want to knife you

he wants to sit on the bench and carve christfigures

but you won't let him.

stupid america, hear that chicano

shouting curses on the street

he is a poet without paper and pencil

and since he cannot write

he will explode.

stupid america, remember that chicanito

flunking math and english

he is the picasso

of your western states

but he will die

with one thousand masterpieces

hanging only from his mind.

Poem by Lalo Delgado, published in 1969, about the bias affecting Latinos in the United States.

Lalo Delgado: the grandfathers of the Chicano literature.