Citizen Illegal

St. Peter is a Mexican named Pedro. He keeps a list of the Mexicans who are bound for heaven and he welcomes them with a shot of tequila. However, he gets drunk and forgets the list, which means that all the Mexicans enter heaven, including those who attend church only rarely.

The young Olivarez loves cheese fries, even though the cheese is fake. He loved the restaurant where he bought them. Later, he and his family moved away and he missed the city of his boyhood, even though the food was artificial. He remembers the Backstreet Boys’ songs that were played in the restaurant. He is so attached to his happy memories that he wants everything to be artificial; he even wants a fake joy that will last forever.

Metaphorically, Olivarez’s speaker wakes with the wolves, which is his way of saying that his experience of love has included a certain violent assertiveness. He has bitten and been bitten in love relationships. He does not object to this. He wants his love to be a wolf, who knows the right time to bite.