Yi-Wen Huang | forthesonorous

Taco Taco, El Paso

As a child in Taichung, I heard the lines on ICRT
sitting on the floor with the radio, small, grey, Panasonic
my mom, my younger sister, next to me in the bedroom;
I didn’t understand the words, and I knew no flamenco
but oh what a beautiful melody

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
Night-time would find me in Rosa’s cantina
Music would play and Felina would whirl

Little did I know thirty years later there’d be a midnight drive to Las Cruces
moving on to El Paso—I spent a month there one night!
pulling teeth/spitting blood in Juarez, Chihuahua

Open sewers, street food, organ meats reminding me of Taiwan
an OTM, walking the bridge, over the dynamic Rio Grande
so shifting, it had to be cemented down

Me llamo Arcoiris, ¿Que Pasa, Rico Suave?

Tom locking horns with the retired luchador extraordinario, La Flama Roja
in a Mexican bakery, pan de jamόn and mascaras chiquitas surrounding

El Taco Tote, twice in eighteen hours
Adobado, barbacoa, tripa chitlin, bistec
Radish, onion, cilantro, chile toreado,
pickled onions, cucumbers, limes
and many, many moles
Salsa roja, salsa verde, pico de gallo, guacamole salsa
All on a glitzy bar of salsa fresca

I can give you what you want
I can give you somethin make you full
Tacos, burritos, quesadillas
And I can give you salsas, too
And don’t forget the hot sauce, chulo!

Then, the party’s over
from the West Texas town of El Paso back
to the badlands of Gallup, New Mexico
One little kiss and Felina, good-bye

Dr. Yi-Wen Huang is from Taiwan and Associate Professor of English and Linguistics at University of New Mexico-Gallup. She lived and attended universities in Long Island, NY and Pittsburgh, PA. Her research focuses on language and affect. Her hobbies include Zumba, spinning, thrift shopping, EDM, and traveling as a foodie and tea aficionado.