Navidad

ten years ago my heart would have caught
in my throat to see this tricked
out chevy blazer mariachi bass
basting bright chrome rims

when it stopped to honk
and the tinted window slid
I would have thought
"what's gonna go down"

the shouted "feliz navidad"
seems like the sweetest words I've ever heard
for some reason, and this Christmas Eve
I think "thank God
that we are alive
and still can learn."