Tanta basura

styrofoam cups

and palm leaves

todas mescladas

heaps of empty orange skins

where the juice man parks his

bicicleta

on the corner near the comedor

where the gutter is always full

of sewage-tainted water

the scent of naranjas

insinuates itself en la luz de la mañana

with exhaust from mistuned motos

and that faint reek

people line up

at the Palacio de la Policia

to get their cédulas

en la esquina, a guy

takes pictures in a plywood kiosk

this is where I tripped

me caí en la calle

uneven sidewalk

and not paying attention

Judith Kerman was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Dominican

Republic in 2002. Her most recent books are Plane Surfaces/

Plano de Incidencia, a bilingual selection of poems with

Domingo, and Dulce María Loynaz: A Woman in Her Garden,

translations of the translations by Johnny Durán, published in

Santo Domingo, and Dulce María Loynaz: A Woman in Her Garden,

translations of the Cervantes-prize winning Cuban poet, published

by White Pine Press. She teaches English and coordinates

and teaches in the Masters program in Communication and Multimedia

at Saginaw Valley State University.