a million moths.

as paleteros chime their bells and beggars beg and vendors down the street hawk $10 jeans over megaphones drowned by the roar of traffic, the couples arrive on broadway. they stop at the guadalupe wedding chapel across the street from the big, blue mural. grooms in slacks and shiny shoes and brides in puffy wedding gowns that sweep the hot pavement as they stand beneath the chapel’s cupid sign. every saturday morning, happiness comes here and humbly waits its turn. next to a goodwill and an empty parking lot. next to the chapel’s sign advertising its menu of services “marriage, income tax, immigration, divorce.”