Ode to Things Done and Remembered in Corpus Christi

Elizabeth N. Flores

October 5, 2025

At the backyard birthday merienda 

for Mama Consuelo,

her 15-year-old grandson Ike 

asked 

     if there were things she had hoped to do 

          that didn’t happen and now never would.

Ike, you’re so rude! 

his mother said, pulling his collar. 

Ike persisted. 

I just want to know if she ever missed the boat.

With arthritic hands, Mama Consuelo 

waved her daughter to hush.

Casting her eyes toward Ike, 

she raised her raspy voice 

so all could hear. 

I never learned to ride a bike. 

Bikes were for my brothers who had paper routes. 

But dating your Grandpa, 

we raced in his shiny new red 1965 Mustang 

up and down Ocean Drive to stares and cheers. 

Envious men in the Whataburger parking lot 

looked over every inch of that ‘65 Mustang. 

The Whataburger manager rushed 

outside and asked what it cost, 

how many miles to the gallon. 

He must have come from the kitchen, 

pretty busy too, he still had his stained apron on.  

My boyfriend, your grandpa-THE COOL GUY!  

So yes, there were things I didn’t do. But I did do other things.

Everyone was charmed 

by Mama Consuelo’s memories 

that cast Corpus in a young love story 

starring her and Papa Roberto. 

Everyone was envious of Ike, 

as he and Mama Consuelo 

spent the rest of the afternoon

     huddled together 

          eating pan dulce, 

               playing checkers. 

Elizabeth N. Flores, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, taught for over 40 years at Del Mar College and was the college’s first Mexican American Studies Program Coordinator. Her recent poems can be found in the TPA Quarterly, the Windward Review, the Texas Poetry Assignment, The Senior Class: 100 Poets on Aging, edited by Laurence Musgrove, and ¡Somos Tejanas!: Chicana Identity and Culture in Texas, edited by Jody A. Marín and Norma E. Cantú.