All of a sudden

when I wake up in the morning

1 remember myself:

I open my eyes discreetly

and proceed to get dressed.

The first thing to do is to put on the face

of a fine upstanding person.

Next, go on to the good

habits, filial love,

morality, decorum

and marital fidelity:

1 leave the memories out

until last.

Like an expert, I wash

my solid citizen's face,

robed in my deteriorating expectations;

I clap words into my mouth,

buff up goodness and wear it like a hat

with an ever so pleasant look

in my eyes.

From the closet I select the ideas

that 1 wish to show off today

and without wasting time

i pop them into my head.

Finally,

I climb into my shoes and

start walking. Going along,

I hum the song 1 sing to

my daughter:

"If to your window

the twentieth century flies,

treat it with love and kindness,

for it's me, in my disguise."

-Maria Mercedes Carranza