I remember that morning
just like it was yesterday
I was still waking up
working on my first cup of joe
when out my back door
I saw this family there
They were digging
and tamping down
and hoisting
and tying off
It took a moment for the fog to clear
but when it did I realized
they had set up camp
right there
in the middle of my back yard

They’d pitched themselves a tent
and had their laundry strung up
from one end of my fence
to the other
They had a big black pot
stewing over an open fire
and by the smell I wasn’t exactly sure
whether they were cooking their breakfast
or boiling their socks

WHAT THE HELL
I said
But then I thought
oh well
why not
There was plenty of space
I never used my backyard
and the grass was overgrown anyway

On the second day there was this man
knocking on my door
His skin had creases like leather
and he was saying something to me
Paracaidistas
is what it sounded like
but I had no idea what it meant
So I just smiled and said
Yes
and that seemed to make him happy
and he went back to his family
to share with them the good news

On the third day there was hammering
the sound of a lawnmower
and all kinds of work being done
My gate
which had been hanging by a hinge
was fixed
and several boards in my fence
which had been loose forever
were now firmly in place

On the fourth day I was awakened by
what sounded like footsteps on my roof
I went out to see that
there were several workers up there
They were replacing the shingles that
had been lost in the storm
when the hurricane blew through town
more than two years ago last May

On the fifth day I noticed in my back yard
there were two tents more now
kids were playing and kicking a soccer ball around
there was live music
a dog barking
and the smell of barbeque
But I wasn’t worried
There was more than enough room
and somebody might as well
put the yard to good use

On the sixth day I had to go out of town on business
When I got back I couldn’t help but notice
I had a garage
where I’d had no garage before

On the seventh day my house had a balcony
where there wasn’t a balcony before
and I stood out overlooking it all
There were now at least a dozen tents
and they had begun dividing my yard
with fences of their own
But I wasn’t worried
not in the slightest
It hadn’t cost me anything
and anyway
they had put up lights
where there had been no lights before

On the eighth day I noticed
with my backyard now filled to capacity
that they had taken to my front lawn
There were a few dozen mailboxes
where there hadn’t been mail boxes before
But why not
I thought
I never really used my front yard anyway

And then on the ninth day
in the morning
when I came downstairs
there was a tent in my living room
There was a family there
stringing up their laundry
They had a campfire going
and a man was in the kitchen
fixing my dishwasher
which had been broken since
I can’t even remember when
Paracaidistas
he said to me
handing me a cup of coffee
but I still didn’t know what that meant

Oh well
I thought
I had no cause for concern
I never went downstairs much any more
and ate out most of the time anyway

Now to be totally honest
I do have to say
that I did start to become just a tad concerned
when on the eleventh day
I came home from work
and in my bedroom I found
a donkey chewing hay
a rooster strutting about
and a ladyhog spread-eagle on my bed
What would I do
I thought
if on the twelfth day I woke up to find
the doors boarded up
and the windows all nailed shut

But then I thought
oh well
I could always sleep in my car
Sure
everything would all right
just as long as one day
I didn’t wake up to find
a donkey on the passenger side
socks hanging in the backseat
Mariachis in the trunk
and a campfire under the hood
Yes
I was sure
everything was going to be just fine

And then I thought I heard something
moving beneath my car
like someone was down there
tinkering with something
True
my brakes had been squealing as of late
and it sure could use a tune up

I locked the doors
hunkered down
and turned up the radio
Sure
everything was going to be just fine

And then
all of a sudden
the garage door opened
and in the sky I could see
parachutes
thousands of them
drifting down like little pup tents
And a man came to my window
and he smiled at me
and he had this big gold tooth
and he said
Paracaidistas
and I still haven’t the slightest clue

what the hell that means In Mexico, squatters are known as paracaidistas. Translated into English, it means paratroopers.

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#paracaidistas