"Once, borracho, at breakfast, / he said: The heart can only be broken / / once, like a window."

— Corral, Eduardo C.


Date
2012
Metaphor
"Once, borracho, at breakfast, / he said: The heart can only be broken / / once, like a window."
Metaphor in Context
Greaser. Beaner. Once, borracho, at breakfast,
he said: The heart can only be broken

once, like a window.
¡No mames! His favorite
belt buckle: an águila perched on a nopal.

If he laughs out loud, his hands tremble.
Bugs Bunny wants to deport him. César Chávez

wants to deport him. When I walk through
the desert, I wear his shirt. The gaze of the moon

stitches the buttons of his shirt to my skin.
The snake hisses. The snake is torn.
(ll. 25-34)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Eduardo C. Corral, "In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes Related Poem Content Details," Poetry (2012). <Link to www.poetryfoundation.org>
Date of Entry
11/18/2016

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.