Anaheim Times (Poem)

Let us pray for the city that once was

Where we died at will

By the bullet of a brother

As “another gang-member” dead

Made the last page of Sunday’s

Newspaper and nobody came

To see the candles and the blood

Splattered on the corner

We used to die and nobody

Cared to know our names

And those who guard the city

Smirked as they scraped up

The bodies of warriors that

Died without becoming men

As mothers cried over another

Unsolved murder

They used to watch us fight

They used to watch us die

They used to watch from hills

As nobody important was killed

They got tired of watching

Now we die

As the badge and blood

Become one

Jesus Cortez is the unofficial poet laureate of Anaheim--especially West Anaheim!