Gustavo Barahona-López & Jerry Flores

Altar For the Not Yet Dead Things 


I decorate the altar with visions, 
Marigolds, and pan dulce. The black
And white photos of deceased 
Ancestors create the backdrop 
For these offerings. Their faces 
Still and emotionless gaze 
Upon the single shot of whisky 
I pour into a shot glass. The trago 
Grandfather had every night 
Before bed. As the shot 
Glass overflows, I wonder why
We don't make altars 
For the things not yet dead. 
No tributes to the migrating 
Hummingbirds. No odes to mother's 
Calloused hands. No homage 
To all of the children torn 
From their mother’s arms, 
Placed in cages with soiled 
Diapers, forced to drink toilet
Water. I trace my name 
On orange petals like a prayer 
For lost kin then place 
The petals in the compost. 
All my muses are dead, though 
Ghosts are the best storytellers.
No bones restrict their animated 
Gestures. Corporal bodies no longer
Hinder their observation. Free 
They float through the ether.
No more torn ligaments or pangs 
Of hunger. Just the low hums 
Of their comings at the 
Intersection of children’s laughter
And their pleas for help.


Gustavo Barahona-López is a poet and educator from the San Francisco Bay Area. In his writing, Barahona-López draws from his experience growing up in a Mexican immigrant household. His work can be found or is forthcoming in Apogee Journal,Glass’ Poets ResistPALABRITASPuerto del SolThe Acentos ReviewHomology LitHayden’s Ferry Review, among other publications. When Barahona-López is not teaching you can find him re-discovering the world with his son.

Jerry Flores is an Indigenous LA Mexican. He resides north of the wall and keeps the old gods.