Network Aztlan Latino Chicano Comunidades Transnacionales

Persistant Impressions

by Harry Gamboa, Jr

1. A woman is lowering her 16 month old daughter into a dumpster,

praising her for being able to distinguish between worthless

refuse and bottles/cans with redeeming qualities. Needles

puncture small hands.

2. A single shot is fired in the distance. A few minutes later,

rapid fire, maybe 30 shots come from across the street. Down

the alley, several shotgun blasts. For 45 minutes all is

quiet. No sirens. No helicopters. Then a car cruises by

slowly around the block shooting bullets at random along

apartment row.

3. A man is struggling to say the right thing, to behave

appropriately in relation to his age and position. Words fail

him so he instinctively slices an "X" across his face with a

$.79 ball point pen.

4. People begin to vanish unexpectedly. They walk into the

rest room and are never seen again.They blend into a crowd and

disintegrate. They make no impact to begin with and are

forgotten at birth. Shadows, reflections, and affection

dissipate. There isn't much of a void to fill.

5. Several people are waiting for the bus (but public

transportation is never on time). Bored, I read the various

tattoos that are composed on the various body parts and begin

to understanding the cryptic tale of despair and

misdirected hatred.

6. 40 individuals begin to hyperventilate simultaneously as they

ascend in the crowded elevator. The overwhelming sense of

gravity and the thinning of air causes panic. There are no

survivors when they reach the top.

7. A man and woman are pleading for mercy:

He : Please don't hit her on the head with a hammer.

She: Spare his life. Don't stab him.

He : She isn't guilty. Crimes are justifiable.

She: He won't ever do it again. Don't shoot.

He : It is only money.

She: Loose change and a few bills. That's all.

He : Please don't let me see you do it.

She: I'll close my eyes if you must.

8. It usually begins with suspicion then followed by disrespect.

Normally lasts only 7 years. Some insects live only 24 hours.

9. It is possible to be more connected emotionally to fleeting

images on TV than to living examples that drag their flesh

along our streets.

10. A clump of earth = 1 lifespan.