The COVID-19 pandemic has had a widespread economic impact. Many small businesses have had to close their doors. This Typewriter Rodeo poem remembers one.
Guacamole Chalupa With Beans, Please
I’m so glad I wasn’t there
when the Mexican Manhattan switched off
its red neon sign for the last time
after 62 years of service. We could have heard
the catch in the throat of all downtown,
San Antonio sobbing in its pillow,
the grief of so many stories and hot meals
being tucked into bed.
Just know we’ll always love you best,
you’ll be our sweetest slide-into-red-booth memory,
our cozy oasis, silver salsa pitcher,
lettuce and tomato piled high,
crisp corn taste unlike any other.
Some days we just needed you.
For years and years…
I can’t stand it, really.
When a family business goes,
the whole map of so many lifetimes
shudders.
