“It Sounded Like Aduyame”

By Bud Sturguess

A young boy coughs

and sputters something in Spanish

I don't know what he said

Maybe a border word

I only know my words, buzz words

Words to Tweet

Woke words

Hashtag words

I can't make out what the boy

is coughing all over my shoes

I hope it trends

when Google translates

Bud Sturguess was born in the small cotton-and-oil town of Seminole, Texas. He has self-published several books, including the novels Sick Things and Saint Calvin the Cannibal. His poetry and fiction appear in New Pop Lit, Ekstasis Magazine, and Longleaf Review. Sturguess receives a disability pension and collects neckties.