Mi Regalo

There is no I’d like, give me
and may I in Costa Rica. It’s all
Mi regalo. Gift me. Gift me the big
coconut, the Pepsi in a plastic bag,
the roasted cashews baking
in the equator’s heat. Mi regalo
gallo pinto, a machete
to cut the grass, decapitate the lids
of garden tarantula dens. Gift me

that bus pass to Limon, take me
away from the razor-topped fences.
Gift me long days in the jungle, seven-
legged spiders suspended
above our hammocks. Mi regalo

a return flight, an airport ride
in the breaking-down white station
wagon with the cigarette-burned
seats. Gift me a standby seat,
a skim over the ocean, a forgiveness. Gift me

another chance with him.









Jessica (Tyner) Mehta is a Cherokee poet and novelist in Oregon. She’s the author of four collections of poetry including Secret-Telling Bones, Orygun, What Makes an Always, and The Last Exotic Petting Zoo and the novel The Wrong Kind of Indian. Jessica is the owner of a multi-award winning writing services business, MehtaFor, and is the founder of the Get it Ohm! karmic yoga movement. www.jessicatynermehta.com