Stereos

Stereos do change their expression to suit their mood
                                                    (Children will tell you of things making faces).

They’ll tell you how dials smile when stereos chew on cumbia mixtapes.
Apaga la radio, apaga la radio…las noticias le hacen daño,* Jaime used to sob when
he was smaller
and he was archangelic, before he grew up all skewed and malo, and got inked, and
his arms turned into copperheads.
Madre, déle cumbia a la radio para que se alegre,** he would ask.



*“Switch off the radio, switch off the radio…the news are hurting it”
** “Mother, give the radio cumbia so it’ll be happy”









Daniel Aristi was born in Spain. He studied French Literature and then Economics, and then moved overseas. He has lived and worked in Africa, South America and the Balkans. His work is forthcoming in the Berkeley Poetry Review and The Meadow. Daniel lives in Botswana.