You smell like Black N' Milds.
The ones you sneak from your brother's dresser in the mornings.
Champagne and grape and strawberry.
Inhale and exhale the poison that cuts your life a just little shorter.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, one more.
You smell like red and white and green.
Like the serpent and the eagle.
Like the Aztec Pyramid at St. Cecilia.
Like Cinco de Mayo on a Sunday.
Chicano. Mexicano. Pick your title.
You've earned it.
Paint your ancestors onto the canvas.
Bring them to modern day.
Tezcatlipoca, son of Ometeotl.
Tlaloc, god of rain, fertility, and water.
Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent.
¡Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria!
A reminder for them of glory!
Remind them that they are still here.
Apart of you. Apart of you. Apart of you.