The Promise of the Spirit
from “Mountain Building” by Victor Hernández Cruz
The Moros live on the top floor eating
Roots and have a rooster on the roof
Africans import okra from the bodega
The Indians make a base of guava
On the first floor
The building is spinning itself into
a spiral of salsa
“Windows and Lights” by Debra Hurd
Heaven must be calling or the
Residents know the direction
Because there is an upward pull
If you rise too quickly from your seat
You might have to comb a spirit’s
Hair
They float over the chimneys
Arrive through the smog
Appear through the plaster of Paris
It is the same people in the windowed
Mountains.
Homespun 