LA Weekly is now taking poetry submissions. Interested in having your work posted right here on our arts blog? Send previously unpublished poems along with an image to go with it to poetry@laweekly.com. Check out today's poem after the jump.

Domingos en Los Angeles

By Elizabeth Chaidez

I can see them vividly–

when el corazón desires,

when el corazón wants,

a little piece of home. 

Domingos en Los Angeles,

almost seem like a distant memory

Apá barbequing chicken

steak on the griller.

Amá, holding containers

in both her arms.

beans, rice, potato salad,

guacamole. Ya sabes,

the necessities for a carne asada

Canciones de mi padre colonizes the air

accordions, trumpets, guitars,my mother tongue

is entangled in harmonious beauty

Apá sings:

Trigueñita hermosa

linda vas creciendo,

como los capomos

que se encuentran en la flor.

Domingos en Los Angeles,

bring family together, tios, tias

hermanas, perros, gatos, 

los pajaritos, la familia.

We walk over to the table–

We sit, we eat, we talk,

we laugh. This is home.

I am home briefly–

When el corazón desires

when el corazón wants–

a little recuerdo.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.