Vision: October 15, 2022

Having seen the smoke piling above the parking lot and the flames coiled around the cars      the fire­fight­ers instruct­ing the crowd to move any vehi­cles not active­ly on fire      I stag­gered in the charred air towards my spot expect­ing the Virgen de Guadalupe sticker in my rear wind­shield to appear through the cloud of ash     I had for­got­ten that three years of sun had worn the image down to shreds     so only a tat­tered appari­tion remained above the smoking ground

Exe­cu­tion: March 29, 2013

Having taken the 5 down its eter­nal­ly under-con­struc­tion lanes to a Latin service you knew      having walked with crossed arms before the priest      we sat in my Celica arguing whether it was best to kill the rat­tlesnake we had seen      I said mercy was most fitting      clutch­ing one of the rosaries the Fathers had given us   You ges­tured to the sign reading St. Michael’s prepara­to­ry school and said chil­dren play here      I reversed word­less­ly      peeled out and left the shat­tered skull seething blood and venom into the hot sand.

How to Make an Ex-Voto

First, get some scrap of garbage
and bind to it a frag­ment
of your memory. A flat­tened
can will serve well. Paint the scene
of your calami­ty as best you can.
Place the Saint whose name
you called on the horizon
and beneath the image, write:

                                    having fallen from the priory tower,
                                    having been con­script­ed by the army,
                                    having been kicked by a horse,
       On this day,         having been beaten by robbers,                 I asked
                                    having been taken sud­den­ly by a fever,
                                    having been arrest­ed on false charges,
                                    having watched my stolen car drive off,
                                    ___________________________________

Then tell the manner of your sal­va­tion.
In memory of the bless­ing, ded­i­cate the image as a testimony.

La Virgen de Guadalupe
San Tadeo
El Santo Niño de Atocha
Santa Lucia                                         to inter­cede for me.
San Benito
Santa Ana
The Woman of the Water
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