Gringo

oculto

This morning the man with missing teeth
told me to take a hose & drown los ocultos — rodents

(similar to gophers) that dig labyrinths

under the gardens, ruck up gravel, eat roots —

run a hose down the hole & drown them.

The waiter who always wants to help us

including ordering us tables from the furniture maker

because he can get them for what locals pay

instead of the price charged to gringos — what we are —

Our waiter is missing six or seven teeth in front on top.

The man who has worked this land for 25 years

(before that it was virgen, he says)

is missing four — top middle — I have difficulty

understanding what he says, but I fake it

he fakes it — we want to understand each other

why I saved the fox skeleton, how los ocultos

will go elsewhere once our garden grows.

Most women in town are missing teeth

accidents? decay? mens’ fists?

women in town shop, cook, clean house

raise children, ride bicycles — the men do nothing

to help in the home & are missing teeth.

Professional women from the city wear braces

the money they earn buys them braces

nor do they bear four or eight children

if any, they bear one or two, & hire a maid, a cook

help is cheap here & always missing teeth.

Even though I speak the language

correctly & with a passable accent

even if I were a young wife with small children

riding a battered one-speed bicycle to el mercado 

even if I already knew how to kill los ocultos

the locals would know me for a gringo

speak to me, want me to be a friend.