For Paris Escovedo
Because we are pirates of love
We fashion heartache and sorrow
Into songs of passion and triumph
Our Jolly Roger is, indeed, but just
As likely gleeful Rogelio, bravely
Dashing barefoot over waves and
Jib climbing center mast to unfurl
Our banner as buccaneers of joy
We eat hemlock for the suicides
And raise them from sadness or
Dread with fire from our quills
Because our contraband is hope
Exhaled in every dizzy whirl of
Hummingbird wings or dreams
Delivered in each flutter of a
Butterfly glide through borders
And two countries to nest atop
The slumbering volcano shoulder
Because the black and orange
Velvet glistens like a quilt that
Will dress all your dismay in a
Prayer skirt of redemption or
The rainbow ribbons of rebirth
Because we are pirates of love
Our brotherhood is not secret
But loud and boisterous, a bell
Burnished with kind, forgiving
Words made infinite in steady
Syncopated celebration of black
Mahogany drumsticks held by
Gentle giants like ancient angels
Hovering with timbales built from
Distant echoes of true peace and
Glittering crescendos of warmth
Like the lack of hunger or perhaps
An end to so much homelessness
Because we set sail with bliss and
Chase the sun with brazen smiles
littering our wake with laughter,
we drink your world-weary tears
an hour before breakfast then
brew morning tea with melody