Verso XXIX – A Poem (excerpted from the poetic ethnography I’m working on)

At times, I regret my etic perspective,
with its hues of fish-belly,
ceviche and flour tortillas,
white on white.
I will always be warned:
“You know that’s really spicy, right?”
by those concerned for my safety.
And sometimes I pretend I can’t take the heat after all,
because the laughter that it brings
makes me feel almost emic.