Los Techadores
June 12, 2025
There is a roofing crew above the street where my morning starts and they are blasting Mexican radio. Ranchero accordions chased by an excitable spanish-speaking DJ and it makes me so happy to hear it. Because the Hispanic kids aren’t playing in the yards anymore and their abuelas don’t come to the door to sign for their packages, the military is being sent into cities to make them less interesting and the news keeps showing the same picture of a burning robot taxi, there are children in Missouri waiting to see if their father is going to be sent to a country they have never been to and men and women who have never left their own hometowns are cheering this on. So I am thankful that up above where the sun shines there is music playing in joyful rebellion against this dreadful homogeny.
Jonathan S Baker lives and works in Evansville, IN where the bouncers are villains, the Christmas Trees are fine, and there is a saloon at the bottom of the Ohio River. They are the author of several collections of poetry including Cock of the Walk (Laughing Ronin Press) Long Nights in Stoplight City (Between Shadows Press) Pressure (Two Key Customs) and Centaur (Dark Heart Press). They are also the co-host and organizer of Indiana’s longest running and most prestigious poetry series, Poetry Speaks.
