Juan Perez

Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of indigenous descent and the current Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas (2019-2020), is the author of several books of poetry including a new book, SCREW THE WALL! AND OTHER BROWN PEOPLE POEMS, forthcoming from FlowerSong Books. The award-winning poet, history teacher, and Pushcart Nominee, is a founding committee member of the People’s Poetry Festival. He is also a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and the Military Writers Society of America. Juan worships his Creator and chases Chupacabras in the South Texas Coastal Bend Area.

Lament For The University Of Texas At Austin II

August 1, 1966

The devil walks among us
That I can clearly see
Carnage on Texas concrete
All who’s left is me
Flight to flight of stairs
As rounds fly by so close
Get him before he gets me
Candid, so life I chose
At that final step
Me and this other man
Round for round we took
Must do what we can
With that we ended his day
Death’s funny somehow this way

Lament For Little Bighorn II

June 25, 1876

I had prayed out loud with beat-heavy song
I had prayed for blood the good night before
Ghost Dancing the white man so far away
Sitting Bull, the great apostle, had laid down the rule
Crazy Horse, the mystic, would show us a way
Today, I saw Yellow Hair surrounded by guns
The religious had warned about plundering possessions
Yet his locks would make such a great trophy for me
I had him in my sites before White Bull got him first
We all reveled in the spilling of his bright, foreign blood
As much as I wanted, I never took scalp from him
For Custer indeed died for all of white man’s sin
Today was a good day for his death
As it was a good day for our way of life