ode to los pachucos
in response to Octavio Paz
my wallet chain
jangles as I sway,
more than a silver
accent or a link to
my keys—I am
tethered to a
collective history
of exquisite defiance.
qué pachucho: to
be caught up in the
pendulum of
assimilation, born
in the hyphen
of one nation
sewn to another,
stitches frayed and
unsteady unlike
the expert craft
imbued in the
loud, draping
folds of the zoot
suit. an elegant
silhouette—
punctuated
by slender belt,
topped off with
dancing feather—
bows to jazz
beats and no
other effigy
Ren Koppel Torres is a Jewish Chicano poet and artist based in San Anto. He is the editor-in-chief of Alebrijes Review, a literary magazine by and for Latin@s. His words appear in Diode, Apogee Journal, La Raíz Magazine, and elsewhere. His favorite soup is pozole rojo. Find him online at KoppelTorres.carrd.co. Photo by Ian Clennan.
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