Dreaming in Noir #223

Fernando Esteban Flores

August 1, 2022

A bucket of iced Shiner Blonde 

Among the sparrows wrens & worms

Chilling out the evening frazzle

Michael Frank’s summer-laced lyrics on the turntable

To motivate the sprinkled lawn

Like a samba in the long cool grass

I tend a garden of weeds

Marvel how they know

To grow on all sides of the fence 

Face hostility with a dogged generosity

Abundance without bounds

Wild green love lush liberal

With calculated abandon

Their work done in the open

Al aire libre

Transparent with a certain grace

Even the Texas heat is no match in their wake

They blossom sooner

Spread faster jostling with other roots

For the best available spot

Come drought or deluge

I let them go about their business

Praise their bounty

& think how much we miss

From what grows out back

Fernando Esteban Flores is a native son of Tejas, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, published three books of poetry: Ragged Borders, Red Accordion Blues, & BloodSongs available through Hijo del Sol Publishing, published in multiple journals, reviews, newspapers, and online sites, selected in 2018-19 by the Department of Arts & Culture of the City of San Antonio, with support from Gemini Ink for his poem “Song for America V (Yo Soy San Antonio)” as one of 30 poems/poets to commemorate the City’s Tricentennial anniversary, and recently named poetry editor of the Catch the Next Journal of Ideas & Pedagogy.