Vintage Colorado Poetry Poem of the Week November 29 & December 6 2004
	The 13th when the thirteenth meets the road and chicanos drop the load the sun shines not in texas .... afraid of being hit by stray rocks, an old woman locks carefully the injured memories of hard de facto segregation when little chicanitos ate their lunch outside the school while their anglo distant classmates enjoyed indoors' protective warmth ah, but the luck, la suerte changes this 13th day, right?  reminding all to pay.                 --abelardo From Los Cuarto, Barrio Publications, Denver, [1969?]. Copyright (c), Barrio Publications. Used with the permission of Barrio Publications.
				Born in Mexico and raised in Texas, Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado (1930-2004) is Denver's Poet Laureate for this next year, posthumously.  November 27th would have been his 74th birthday. "The 13th," which is set in Texas, is one of the Chicano activist and social reformer's early poems.  Vintage Colorado Poetry isn't certain what the title means.  No matter, "The 13th" concerns place, history, and protest.
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