Remediation

My Chicano poet friend
who rides the bus gave
me a black handkerchief
and a Black Lives Matter
button today. This was one
day after he shared a book
about Aztecs. I pinned
the button to my shoulder
bag, but the handkerchief
I didn’t know what to do
with. He had to show me
how to fold it cross-wise
like a puro farmworker,
and then he showed me
how to fold it length-wise
like a puro cholo. Neither
one looked very good
on me, but then again
this pocho always needed
more practice learning
how to shake hands
like a puro cholo would.