Taxi to the Beach


By Jose Hernandez Diaz

A man hailed a taxi outside of his apartment. He was going to the beach. Suddenly, his fedora caught on fire from his cigarette. He fanned it outside the taxi window. Then his phone rang. It was the President of Mars. “Mr. Lopez, we need your vote next week. Can we count on you?” the President asked. “My hat is on fire!” Mr. Lopez shouted. “I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Lopez, we’ll send you a new one,” the President of Mars said. “Thanks, Mr. President, but I can’t vote for you,” Mr. Lopez said. “Then you don’t get a hat. That’s how it works. Goodbye!” the President said. Mr. Lopez hung up and tossed the flaming fedora out of the window. “To the beach!” he shouted.


Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. His work appears in Bat City ReviewThe Cincinnati ReviewGreen Mountains ReviewHuizacheThe NationNew American WritingNorth American Review, Poetry Northwest, The Progressive, Witness, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading anthology. He tweets at @JoseHernandezDz.

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