POETRY BY JUAN MANUEL PEREZ
Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of Indigenous descent and the Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas, is the author of numerous poetry books including Another Menudo Sunday, O’ Dark Heaven: A Response to Suzette Haden Elgin’s Definition of Horror, WUI: Written Under the Influence of Trinidad Sanchez, Jr., Live From La Pryor: The Poetry of Juan Manuel Perez: A Zavala Country Native Son, Volume I, Sex, Lies, and Chupacabras, Space In Pieces, Screw The Wall! and Other Brown People Poems, Terror of the Zombie Zonnets: Planet of the Zombie Zonnets Season One through Three, and many others.
Space in Pieces and Planet of the Zombie Zonnets: Seasons One and Two are Elgin Award Nominated Books through the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
Juan is also The 2021 Horror Authors Guild’s Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner and a recipient of a 2021 Horror Writers Association Diversity Grant.
He is the 2011-2012 San Antonio Poets Association Poet Laureate and the Lone Star State’s only El Chupacabras Poet Laureate (For Life), as well as a Zombie Texas Poet of the Year.
This two-time Teacher of the Year, along with his wife, Malia (a three-time Teacher of the Year and now Librarian), is a co-founder of The House of the Fighting Chupacabras Press.
The former migrant field worker previously from La Pryor, Texas currently worships his Creator, writes as well as conducts poetry and history workshops, and chases chupacabras in the Texas Coastal Bend Area.
To learn more about him got to:
https://www.juanmperez.com/
THE RECORD PLAYS ON
looking in through the panes of a window
a record rotates as snow falls outside
a piano sings with a lonely band
a trombone softly moans a sad story
the fireplace crackles without a care
so long as you feed it a sturdy log
looking out through the panes of a window
in the heavy thrust of a foot of snow
we find you in a heavy discussion
church members came to pay you a visit
groaning they want to send you to Jesus
scream of forever, they bite into you
a record rotates as snow falls outside
as it plays for you a final goodbye
PRE-ZOMBIE’S LIFE LITTLE LESSONS
the only lesson in this verse is “scream”
that is “if” you scream, it could distract them
for sooner or later you’ll lose your voice
and then it won’t matter at all to you
the only lesson in this verse is “run”
that is “if” you can run, enjoy your life
for at any given moment it ends
and those days of running will be no more
the only lesson in this verse is “hide”
that is “if” you hide, and you do it well
for pretty soon your hiding spots dwindle
and all the secrets that were you are spent
The only lesson in this verse is “now”
That is “if” you don’t want to join the dead
AT THE TEMPLE OF THE SNAKE
there are some whispers
pyramids under the sea
not the ones we knew
high knowledge of snakes
once reached beyond these dry lands
far before this time
once they were the gods
now they’re hunted by a God
a few became less
there are some whispers
pyramids under the sea
not the ones we knew
placed in that garden
to see if man would return
worship of serpents
a few will tell you
where many believe it not
man, the little snake
there are some whispers
pyramids under the sea
not the ones we knew