"bodega" poems
Sucede que me canso de ser hombre.
Sucede que entro en las sastrerías y en los cines
marchito, impenetrable, como un cisne de fieltro
navegando en un agua de origen y ceniza.
El olor de las peluquerías me hace llorar a gritos.
Sólo quiero un descanso de piedras o de lana,
sólo quiero no ver establecimientos ni jardines,
ni mercaderías, ni anteojos, ni ascensores.
Sucede que me canso de mis pies y mis uñas
y mi pelo y mi sombra.
Sucede que me canso de ser hombre.
Sin embargo sería delicioso
asustar a un notario con un lirio cortado
o dar muerte a una monja con un golpe de oreja.
Sería bello
ir por las calles con un cuchillo verde
y dando gritos hasta morir de frío.
No quiero seguir siendo raíz en las tinieblas,
vacilante, extendido, tiritando de sueño,
hacia abajo, en las tripas mojadas de la tierra,
absorbiendo y pensando, comiendo cada día.
No quiero para mí tantas desgracias.
No quiero continuar de raíz y de tumba,
de subterráneo solo, de bodega con muertos,
aterido, muriéndome de pena.
Por eso el día lunes arde como el petróleo
cuando me ve llegar con mi cara de cárcel,
y aúlla en su transcurso como una rueda herida,
y da pasos de sangre caliente hacia la noche.
Y me empuja a ciertos rincones, a ciertas casas húmedas,
a hospitales donde los huesos salen por la ventana,
a ciertas zapaterías con olor a vinagre,
a calles espantosas como grietas.
Hay pájaros de color de azufre y horribles intestinos
colgando de las puertas de las casas que odio,
hay dentaduras olvidadas en una cafetera,
hay espejos
que debieran haber llorado de vergüenza y espanto,
hay paraguas en todas partes, y venenos, y ombligos.
Yo paseo con calma, con ojos, con zapatos,
con furia, con olvido,
paso, cruzo oficinas y tiendas de ortopedia,
y patios donde hay ropas colgadas de un alambre:
calzoncillos, toallas y camisas que lloran
lentas lágrimas sucias.
12.2k
Each sunday,
the owner's face lit up
as I popped in the neighborhood bodega
in need of paper towels, soap, toothpaste.
Occasionally, when I uttered the word “purple,”
his brown eyes glowed and he flashed me a smile
as he fetched the Trojan condoms behind the counter.
This week,
I came in on saturday,
he looked pleasantly surprised to see me,
earlier in the week.
until I reached the counter
holding tampons, desperate to stop my leaking body.
In my humanity,
I was no longer ****
not worthy of a smile.
Nor the well wishes of a nice evening.
His greetings had always had an invisible price tag,
exchanged for a glimmer of hope.
The hope that his kind words would
earn him a discount in the time it took
for me to live up
to his fantasy
one day.
Jan 3, 2016
Jan 3, 2016 at 7:43 PM UTC
we ate government cheese
that came in a dull brown box
we were too young
to understand what welfare
and food stamps meant,
our empty bellies never protested
at the salty orange blocks
in front of the bodega,
we saw a woman introduce a hammer
to a drunk tyrant’s skull
his blood pooling on the streets
was too red for new eyes
we watched hypodermic needles
bloom on stoops
cling to life on curbs
the graffiti on abandoned buildings
was our Louvre, our Salon de Paris
sweltering streets our baseball diamonds
prostitutes, black or brown or both
mothered us between shifts
we grew up in projects,
that sheltered drab lives
and senseless brutalities
gunfire, sharp and immutable
punctured lullabies
we were small boys
watching life unfold
the way one stares at an accident
detached and mildly curious
eyeing cooly the despair
and impossible hopelessness
of growing up poor
in Brooklyn
Mar 28, 2015
Mar 28, 2015 at 10:40 PM UTC
my love brought
me tranquility.
my love bought
me tranquility,
in a Manhattan bodega.
late at night in my city,
everything is for sale
where least expected
in mini marts, local delis,
greek coffee shops, spanish bodegas
pizza parlors, hardware stores,
all selling
salves for late night salvation
purveyors of
differential equations of
differing soulful sustenances,
certain imports that will probably never be
for sale in Walmart after midnight
all, readily available,
twenty four seven
in my miracle Manhattan heaven
My woman,
mapper of the byways
of my ****** landmarks
worn broad~ways,
his-toric foot trails of tears,
lines of laughters,
even a
purported dimple
I call a crevasse.
a sole survivor of
a mother's birthing skill marker,
duly recorded by her upon my visage,
in my miracle Manhattan
She knows, as do
some of youse guys,
that my poetry is
water born(e) and water soluble,
but Peconic Bay always
ain't right handy,
so bring on a
substitute teacher,
a hot bath,
helps me to enunciate
my verbal visitations
my love brought
me tranquility.
my love bought
me tranquility
in a Manhattan bodega.
pour the aromatherapy,
my love brought me
for inspiration into and upon
my liquid writing table,
"Tranquility,"
a summer garden aroma
It soothes
my bad memories,
the herbs salve
accursed ancient wounds
that will never
ever fully heal
or be forgiven
my love brought
me tranquility.
my graces restored,
this poem offered in
grateful appreciation
with unlimited adoration,
something,
maybe even the
very one thing
**that can't be bought,
even,
in my miracle Manhattan**
Jan 30, 2014
Jan 30, 2014 at 12:44 AM UTC
Isa akong hamak na kabataan na pinagkaitan ng mapaglarong mundong ito. Sa isang madilim na bodega ako matagal nang nananatili. Mabaho at walang pagkain, araw-araw ay tinitiis namin ang kalam ng aming sikmura.
Mahigpit na ipinag-uutos sa amin na pulutin ang mga bagay na kapaki-pakinabang sa loob ng tambakan na ito. Sinusunod namin ito ng maayoa ngunit tila ang pangakong binitiwan ng taong dumampot sa amin sa kalsada, na kami ay pag-aaralin, ay naglaho nang parang bula.
Sa bawat sandali ng aking buhay, wala akong naging karamay kundi ang malaking salamin na nakabitin sa dingding ng malawak na silid na ito. Na at patuloy na nagsasabi sa akin ng pag-asa. Pag-asa na siyang matagal ko nang gustong makamtan.
Sa tuwing titingin ako sa silid na aking kinalalagyan, halos mamatay na ako sa kawalang kalayaan na ito. Minsan pinipilit kong kumawala sa silid na ito kasama ng ibang kabataang inalipin na ng takot. Ngunit suntok at hagupit ng tubo ang aming natatamo sa tuwing nanaisin naming tumakas sa silid na ito. Hindi ko talaga lubos na maisip ang mga pangyayaring nagaganap sa buhay ko. Kung ito ba ay totoo o isang panaginip lamang.
Tumingin ako sa salamin at isa lang ang sinasabi ng aking wangis, hanggang kailan ko pagmamasdan ang mukhag nahihirapan at punung-puno ng kalungkutan? Mabuti pa ang salamin na ito. Sa or as na siaikat ang araw, lagi niyang ipinadarama ang panibagong pag-asa.
Jun 18, 2018
Jun 18, 2018 at 1:22 AM UTC
Looking out at the world before him
Scanning people on the fly
John Jenkins watched as they passed his building
All in a hurry, but why?
He'd sit feeding pigeons when the weather was nice
With seed brought from the local Bodega
For two bucks a week, he'd keep them all fed
With a bag bought from Jose Montega
Each day he would watch, as the people ran by
Never stopping to watch as they passed
This man in the shadows, feeding the birds
And each day, he would watch the same cast
The birds never wavered as the people ran on
Never concerned with their lives, just with John
You could shoot off a gun, and not one would fly
Although, you would expect them all gone
He'd sat here for years, since he retired way back
No one saw him as he sat with the birds
He would say "hi" as the people went by
But, I'm sure no one heard the words
He was passed off as crazy, just a loon on a bench
He's a fixture that no one can see
And except for the birds and the Bodega's Jose
I would sit here and say I agree
One morning, downstairs, as the people passed by
John got up and went up to his place
The birds never left, they just waddled around
And the people went on with their race
The next morning, no John, no one down with the birds
He had died in his sleep in the night
But, the people passed by, never noticed him gone
And the birds, waddled round from their flight
He left nary a mark on the world he had left
He was mad, they said, but that was okay
And the people passed by, and the birds were still fed
By the new man on the bench called Jose.
Jul 29, 2012
Jul 29, 2012 at 8:41 PM UTC
The sheets were soft and crumpled underneath my back and my mind was wandering even though this wasn’t the time for that, and I thought about how much I always loved the feeling of bare skin against sheets, year round, even when it was far too cold for it to be a reasonable thing to do. There’s something **** about just being naked, as simplistic as it sounds. With only his skin, my hair, and the sheets touching my body, I felt exposed but I also felt strong, which was an interesting mix of emotions. I knew I should have been more fixated on what was going on (he certainly was) but I always feel somewhat disconnected from my body and having someone else touch it made it feel even more foreign. It wasn’t unpleasant to have his hands all over me, maybe just a little disappointing and I suddenly wanted to push him off me and go for a walk outside where the air could fill my lungs. Stuffy. It was stuffy in his room, I thought. The distinctly boyish smell of deodorant and sweat mingled with the fake perfume of the candle I remembered to bring and it was was suffocating me. Outside, I could hear his little brother playing loudly in the yard and I wanted to be a little kid again but instead I was inside in a darkened room doing things that seemed too adult for my body and things I used to tell myself I would never do. I liked his brother; he was a sweet kid and last spring I took him to the park a few times when the older boy on top of me had work at the bodega down the street. It felt ***** to hear his childish yells and I wanted more than ever to leave, but the strange more-than-friends relationship with this boy meant that he wanted this once in a while and I liked him more than I had admitted to anyone yet. The cracks in his ceiling were familiar to me by now and once, after we--fucked? made love? I still didn’t know what to call it-- he told me that the first night I came over, drunk and crying, he had to run to peel off the glow in the dark stars that had still been up, a remnant from his childhood, and I found this endearing and I had kissed him again for that. One of his hands was running through my hair now and I stroked his chest, which was leaner and tanner than my bluish-white hands. In the back of my mind I thought I might love him but it could have been his body between my thighs. I could never be sure.
Feb 22, 2014
Feb 22, 2014 at 7:13 PM UTC
Right off of the 7 train,
Irish Catholic schoolgirls spilling
out of Jahn's like marbles
Their plaid skirts against exposed brick
bellies full of kitchen sink
The produce stand next door
eggs .60 a dozen, milk one dollar
Now converted into a bodega
or maybe even a small
Muslim prayer room
I bought my first album
at a record store on 82nd
The brown paper bags, thin as bible pages
It spun on the Victrola in my
parents' Tudor
The yellowing wallpaper smelled of
my mom's Virginia Slims
And sounded of my dad's Vermouth
His own liver fried
with onions, just as he liked it
Jan 12, 2019
Jan 12, 2019 at 6:10 PM UTC
she lived alone
by the little glass window
on the 12th floor
always open
seeing every color and stain
of urban life flashing below
across the courtyard
black, white, yellow, brown
and a redhead going down
the block for a ghetto special
4 chicken wings and fries
and fly uncle johnny
in his trench-coat and superslims
running paper slips to the bodega
on the corner of broadway and 5th
and little blues babies in ponytails
doing the double-dutch hustle
a skip and **** away
from motherhood
and radio raheems
peddling mix tapes, joints and conspiracies
to mis-educated teens
flashing silver grills, c's and black stones
under high-top fades and fro's
closing only for hurricanes
and ricochet bullets
permanently when one
caught miss helen in the eye
she lived alone..
~ P
(7/8/2013)
Jul 21, 2013
Jul 21, 2013 at 5:25 PM UTC
Remember when this used to be a bodega where you could by an egg a few cigarettes and some *******
I only bought **** there
a couple of times
I really went in there for milk or coffee
or an Entenmann’s raspberry danish in the big long rectangle.
I don’t remember the brand I smoked then
but they didn’t sell them.
The guy next door in my building had a thing for rich girls with flash cars
who would buy him clothes and other such presents
He was from the OC
and what he was doing in Brooklyn
I don’t even know
He got involved with some local
Columbians
Through the corner bodega
And of course proceeded
to date one of their women.
The OC Romeo.
Lady Lover.
Irresistible.
Pink Lacrosse shirt.
Turned up collar.
Leisure slacks.
I had to tell him once to not slap his thigh at me
When I passed him
on that corner
Posing with his newfound buddies.
And to give me back my cassette.
He tells me he left it out on the window sill
And it rained and got wet.
I said give it back anyway.
Not too long after he was gone.
Both he and his yuppie roommate
I heard he moved back to Newport Beach.
I wondered why he ran
Cuz I know he ran
Fast
I had some crazy neighbors in Hollywood
who disappeared
into the Russian night.
Someone spotted them a year later.
Playing with the wrong people.
Taking liberties.
Conning a con.
Your life really is not worth
very much
in those circles
so you’d better be quick on your feet.
Jun 21, 2019
Jun 21, 2019 at 2:24 PM UTC
Spices/nices... sweets and creams. Smells like home
Bodega my senses. Herbs/Lotions. from across time and the ocean.
Remedies for achy knees.
Cough syrup/liniments.
Mangoes and tangerines.
Mamae/papaya.
Waha leaf. Tree bark/arrowroot.
Nescafe/Milo.
Pastries.Puddings.
cakes and tamales.
Ginger beer/seaweed sweet drink
Love potions in the back room.
spells and fixes too.
Yeah the old is new.
The Bodega is a slice of home,
mysterious and familiar.
good for what ails ya.
Placebo ? oh no
cho man.
Oct 14, 2013
Oct 14, 2013 at 11:59 PM UTC
From the kid killed in front of the bodega to all the women being ***** along with police brutality
Someone’s playing Thanos because we’re dying off rapidly
There won’t ever be a food shortage because half the population is gone in an unknown fatality
When will we see the end to this
Millions billions and trillions of dollars dumped into our military but there’s still no sense to this
But this is the make America great country that I’m living in
How can hell be any worse than the one we’re living in
I’ll probably see more people dead than I’ll see graduated
There’s polar opposite feelings when death certificates and graduation certificates are allocated
Never catch me outside in my house is where I’ll be located
The blocks getting hot and only by the guns that inhabit them
And it’s all fun and games
Until police brutality or false identity gets you killed and your life lives on through people that have inked your name
And no matter how many memories you had with them it’ll never be the same
Because their watching over you at a height no mortal man can obtain
I’m not trying to be a pastor trying get people to follow the words I preach
I’m just praying the ones I love stay safe in these summer streets
Aug 10, 2018
Aug 10, 2018 at 1:32 AM UTC
SÅR DER HELER PÅ LÆBEN,
RU HÅNDOVERFLADER
OG BEN DER RYSTENDE FORSØGER AT VALSE MENSTURATIONSSMERTER, ØMME MUSKLER OG GRIMME NEGLEBÅND
*** SPØRGER OM HVAD DER ER GALT
JEG SIGER JEG ER KED AF DET OG GRÆDER
*** SIGER HVORFOR
OG JEG VED DET IKKE
OG HAR PÅ SAMME TID LYST TIL AT SNAKKE
MEN JEG SIGER INGENTING
OG INTET BRÆNDER MERE I HALSEN END USAGTE ORD
MEN DET VED DU VEL IKKE ******* LORTE PSYKOLOG
JEG GÅR PÅ EN STI
DEN ER 11
OG DER ER INGEN MENNESKER
SÅ JEG SÆTTER MIG PÅ EN BÆNK
OG JEG TØRRER IHÆRDIGT TÅRERNE VÆK
IMENS JEG VRÆLER BANDEORD
OG FORSØGER AT HULKE ALLE DÆMONERNE UD
SELVOM INTET GIVER POTE
OG JEG ER FORDÆRVET INDENI
TRÆKKER JEG PÅ SMILEBÅNDET
OG SMILEHULLERNE BEGEJSTRER SIG
MEN ER DET SÅDAN UNGDOM SKAL FØLES?
JEG TAGER UD OM LØRDAGEN
FORDI JEG ARBEJDER HVER FREDAG
SÅ JEG STJÆLER GLÆDE FRA SØNDAG
DEN GLÆDE DER NU FINDES
TUNGE ØJENLÅG
TEQUILA
TILTRÆNGT EFEMERISK LYKKE
OG TAKTISK SELVBEDRAGISK LATTER
TILFREDSHEDEN ER DER NÆPPE
MEN ER JEG GOD NOK NU ELLER HVAD?
JEG TAGER HJEM
MEN JEG VENTER FØRST PÅ NATBUSSEN
ELLER ER DET TOGET
ELLER METROEN
FØRST EN SMØG JEG BRÆNDER MIG PÅ FINGEREN
ALTING ER JO SLØRET
FORHELVEDE DET GØR ONDT.
JEG FRYSER OG MINE TÆNDER KLAPRER
JEG VED IKKE ENGANG HVORDAN JEG FÅR STEGET PÅ
VÅGNER DAGEN EFTER
SORTE RANDER UNDER ØJNENE
OG TØMMERMÆND
ER DET HELE DÉT VÆRD?
MED KRØLLEDE PENGESEDLER,
FINTSKÅRET TOBAK FRA KNÆKKEDE CIGARETTER,
OG ET UBRUGT KONDOM I TASKEN
GÅR JEG UD
MEN LÆGGER FOLK OVERHOVEDET MÆRKE TIL AT JEG GÅR?
LUGTEN AF BODEGA SPREDER SIG PÅ GADEN
NÅR JEG BEVÆGER MIG PÅ FORTOVET
JEG FÅR ET TILTRÆNGENDE KNUS FØR *** LUKKER MIG IND MEN LUKKER JEG OVERHOVEDET HENDE ELLER NOGEN IND?
JEG SIDDER VED RADIATOREN
DEN ER VARM OG SYMPATISK
IKKE SOM DE SKØDELØSE KYS
ELLER DEN ANARKISTISKE IDENTITET
MEN ER JEG IKKE OKAY NU?
JEG KVÆLER DEN KOGENDE KOFFEIN
OG KÆFTEN BRÆNDER
KU DET BLIVE MERE KAOTISK
KU DET?
DEN KRUMMEDE VÅDE MEN LUNE CIGARET HÆNGER I MUNDVIGEN
JEG TAGER DEN IMELLEM PEGEFINGEREN OG FUCKFINGEREN INHALERER OG PUSTER UD
HVAD JEG HÅBER PÅ ER TOMHEDEN INDENI
IMENS TÅRERNE UFRIVILLIGT LØBER NED AF KINDERNE HVORNÅR HOLDER DET OP?
ER DET STRÆKMÆRKERNE,
DET RUNDE ANSIGT,
POLLENALLERGIEN,
MANGEL PÅ SYMPATI OG PENGE
ELLER BARE MIN PERSONLIGHED
DÉT DER GØR AT JEG IKKE ER GOD NOK?
Mar 12, 2015
Mar 12, 2015 at 4:08 PM UTC
I began with verse about Wyeth's Christina
but I couldn't see her face, and I've never been to Maine
though her twisted body pains me
then I flew to the opposite coast
summoned by the memory of a ghost:
my best friend at Bodega Bay, one fine day
forty Augusts gone
he threw a Frisbee to his Airedale
and we ate sprout sandwiches, avoiding the foul
karma from the slaughter of beeves,
hogs, he said
I would like to relive that day,
with its blue dusk, but the clock can't be rewound
and he is not to be found on the great Pacific
kin who barely knew his face
chose his final space--a hot hole on Oklahoma
prairies, not far from his drunken father
and others who never saw him watch
the sun sink gold into the sea
in my head I'll exhume him,
maybe return him to the waves
that reclaim all things
or introduce him to Christina
a continent away--he could help me know her
though her eyes face another world
Dec 12, 2015
Dec 12, 2015 at 4:28 PM UTC
Christmas morning
and we got drunk on $3 red wine
given to me
entirely for free
from the creepy guy
who sits downstairs
with absolutely nothing on
underneath his trenchcoat
it was ******* freezing outside,
and I cried just a little bit
when you told me
we were out of butter.
With no bra
and a pair of XL red sweatpants
I went to the bodega on the corner
where the old man with too many fingers
never gives me the right change.
And that day I cried in my room
over what Christmas had become for me
and now I cry for that ****** apartment
four blocks from the G train
in the middle of Brooklyn, New York
and the fridge that never had
what we were looking for.
Nov 30, 2014
Nov 30, 2014 at 10:12 PM UTC
twelve days in july
and i carry tokens of each of them
in the pocket of my filthy jeans
each has a face
each has a story and its own trail
of rages or tears
she danced alone in the room
of the redhouse bodega
a spanish tune twisting slowly from the player
its sound thin but the song robust
spinning spinning round and round
she was shadow and light
flashes of rich color
in her best dress and boots of leather
hear them still hitting the hardpack floor
like thunder
she was a goddess that night
she was the worlds that night
let her stay there forever in the limelight
happy in the moment
he waited dressed in his finest clothes
pressed and neat from head to toe
with a single rose
in the moonlight a mile down from the redhouse
in his heart he sings that song to her
in his heart he holds her in his arms
theres nothing that will stop us he says
theres nothing that will ever stand in our way
and his heart dances thru all the days with her
that he will love her
that they will share
there in the moonlight a mile down from the redhouse
singing a song in his heart for her
let him abide there forever
happy in the moment
i see dawn sneaking in the window
pull the blanket from my shoulder
shake off the chill
cough the sickhouse regret and
feel my lungs fill with slow death
twelve days in july
but i keep dreamin of one night in febuary
a shopping cart and smiles
hope
i could use some
all the places i could have ended
did not see this one
alone in an empty broken room
an empty broken man
dont leave me here alone
in this moment
she lay in the grass
public park just before dawn
looking up at the stars fade
holding a small budda
rubbing the belly
smile on her face
but thoughts run deep and swift
with one finger she traces the edges of clouds
in her heart she paints masterpieces
she illustrates the world with a carefree hand
and is loved by all who behold
in her heart
the last sliver of moonlight is hers alone
on the road from the redhouse
an ambulance ride to saving
a quick journey to hope
on the road from the redhouse
she just wants to stay here where its safe
where nothing dangerous can get at her
in this moment of moonlight
happiness
twelve days in july
seem like years to me
where am i bound
will i make it
i just want that night
shopping carts and smiles
hope
just a glimmer of hope
Jul 12, 2013
Jul 12, 2013 at 9:00 AM UTC
he watches the waves
crash against old earth's spine
lapping, licking like they want to reclaim
the clams, the ***** and the ancient
amoeba that abandoned the waters
before time
he knows the sea sounds
are an anthem, for he has been told this
by his friends who surround him, tho now
their mouths are still
as they listen to this
blue symphony
the one who can talk
with his hands signs to him
they are leaving now, dusk
has siphoned the last bit
of warmth from the air
he tells them to leave
him; he will wait for darkness
and when he is shivering with only
black waves as his companions
he will sing, his eerie emanations
a chorus of one among the dancing
waters
Sep 13, 2015
Sep 13, 2015 at 2:04 PM UTC
After the last call
And the subsequent lock-in
Of the second bar we'd hit
Where we'd sat doing shots
And talking Fitzgerald and Joyce
We took shelter from the downpour
Under the awning of a bodega
Out on Atlantic Avenue.
I clasped your head in my hands,
In emphasis of some joke just told
Before you passed me a poorly rolled cigarette
And I turned for a drag.
Exhaling, I felt your gaze
Penetrate through my lungs' fresh smoke
And fill me full-brimmed
Like a rush of blood.
You grabbed me then
Our faces wet with rain
And gave me the nicest kiss
I'd ever known.
Drawing away
You swore and ****** yourself
For your mistake.
I tried to ride your bike
But fell
My drunken feet entwined in the peddles.
When the rain had stopped
We sat on the hot concrete
And I tried to remember
A song that I wanted you to hear.
We pushed your bike
To the Nevins St. Subway stop
And you stood there
And watched
As I went underground
Before cycling home
Over Brooklyn Bridge.
Jun 29, 2012
Jun 29, 2012 at 7:59 AM UTC
Los circos trashumantes,
de lamido perrillo enciclopédico
y desacreditados elefantes,
me enseñaron la cómica friolera
y las magnas tragedias hilarantes.
El aeronauta previo,
colgado de los dedos de los pies,
era un bravo cosmógrafo al revés
que, si subía hasta asomarse al Polo
Norte, o al Polo Sur, también tenía
cuestiones personales con Eolo.
Irrumpía el payaso
como una estridencia
ambigua, y era a un tiempo
manicomio, niñez, golpe contuso,
pesadilla y licencia.
Amábanlo los niños
porque salía de una bodega mágica
de azúcares. Su faz sólo era trágica
por dos lágrimas sendas de carmín.
Su polvorosa apariencia toleraba
tenerlo por muy limpio o por muy sucio,
y un cónico bonete era la gloria
inestable y procaz de su occipucio.
El payaso tocaba a la amazona
y la hallaba de almendra,
a juzgar por la mímica fehaciente
de toda su persona
cuando llevaba el dedo temerario
hasta la lengua cínica y glotona.
Un día en que el payaso dio a probar
su rastro de amazona al ejemplar
señor Gobernador de aquel Estado,
comprendí lo que es
Poder Ejecutivo aturrullado.
¡Oh remoto payaso: en el umbral
de mi infancia derecha
y de mis virtudes recién nacidas
yo no puedo tener una sospecha
de amazonas y almendras prohibidas!
Estas almendras raudas
hechas de terciopelos y de trinos
que no nos dejan ni tocar sus caudas...
Los adioses baldíos
a las augustas Evas redivivas
que niegan la migaja, pero inculcan
en nuestra sangre briosa una patética
mendicidad de almendras fugitivas...
Había una menuda cuadrumana
de enagüilla de céfiro
que, cabalgando por el redondel
con azoros de humana,
vencía los obstáculos de inquina
y los aviesos aros de papel.
Y cuando a la erudita
cavilación de Darwin
se le montaba la enagüilla obscena,
la avisada monita
se quedaba serena.
como ante un espejismo,
despreocupada lastimosamente
de su desmantelado transformismo.
La niña Bell cantaba:
«Soy la paloma errante»;
y de botellas y de cascabeles
surtía un abundante
surtidor de sonidos
acuáticos, para la sed acuática
de papás aburridos,
nodriza inverecunda
y prole gemebunda.
¡Oh memoria del circo! Tú te vas
adelgazando en el frecuente síncope
del latón sin compás;
en la apesadumbrada
somnolencia del gas;
en el talento necio
del domador aquel que molestaba
a los leones hartos, y en el viudo
oscilar del trapecio...
923
meanwhile,
summer is not
ours
it is not
a celebration,
it is teddy bears
on street corners,
bodega flowers
on makeshift graves,
distorted faces of
home-printed memorials
on t-shirts
the same color and
texture as what
the dead boy was selling,
meanwhile,
summer is nothing more
than closed houses,
decks with grandmothers
scowling down at the teenagers
who are not sure
if
they
are even real
Nov 1, 2017
Nov 1, 2017 at 5:04 PM UTC
La Mancha y sus mujeres... Argamasilla, Infantes
Esquivias, Valdepeñas, La novia de Cervantes,
y del manchego heroico, el ama y la sobrina
(el patio, la alacena, la cueva y la cocina,
la rueca y la costura, la cuna y la pitanza),
la esposa de don Diego y la mujer de Panza,
la hija del ventero, y tantas como están
bajo la tierra, y tantas que son y que serán
encanto de manchegos y madres de españoles
por tierras de lagares, molinos y arreboles. Es la mujer manchega garrida y bien plantada,
muy sobre sí doncella, perfecta de casada. El sol de la caliente llanura vinariega
quemó su piel, mas guarda frescura de bodega
su corazón. Devota, sabe rezar con fe
para que Dios nos libre de cuanto no se ve.
Su obra es la casa -menos celada que en Sevilla,
más gineceo y menos castillo que en Castilla-.
Y es del hogar manchego la musa ordenadora;
alinea los vasares, los lienzos alcanfora;
las cuentas de la plaza anota en su diario,
cuenta garbanzos, cuenta las cuentas del rosario. ¿Hay más? Por estos campos hubo un amor de fuego,
dos ojos abrasaron un corazón manchego. ¿No tuvo en esta Mancha su cuna Dulcinea?
¿No es el Toboso patria de la mujer idea
del corazón, engendro e imán de corazones,
a quien varón no impregna y aun parirá varones? Por esta Mancha -prados, viñedos y molinos-
que so el igual del cielo iguala sus caminos,
de cepas arrugadas en el tostado suelo
y mustios pastos como raído terciopelo:
por este seco llano de sol y lejanía,
en donde el ojo alcanza su pleno mediodía
(un diminuto bando de pájaros puntea
el índigo del cielo sobre la blanca aldea,
y allá se yergue un soto de verdes alamillos,
tras leguas y más leguas de campos amarillos),
por esta tierra, lejos del mar y la montaña,
el ancho reverbero del claro sol de España,
anduvo un pobre hidalgo ciego de amor un día
-amor nublóle el juicio: su corazón veía-. Y tú, la cerca y lejos, por el inmenso llano
eterna compañera y estrella de Quijano,
lozana labradora fincada en tus terrones
-oh madre de manchegos y numen de visiones-,
viviste, buena Aldonza, tu vida verdadera
cuando ta amante erguía su lanza justiciera,
y en tu casona blanca ahechando el rubio trigo.Aquel amor de fuego era por ti y contigo. Mujeres de la Mancha con el sagrado mote
de Dulcinea, os salve la gloria de Quijote.
868
Another glass
(bodega red)—
Christmas lights,
all buzz-eyed bokeh—
I want you close,
my nervous tic,
my lunar love,
Cassiopeia—
this holiday I
said too much,
I made a fool of
both of us—
but I don’t drink
to disappear—
I drink to kiss
my fearless lover.
Nov 29, 2018
Nov 29, 2018 at 12:58 AM UTC
Walking to the bodega,
I think about those sparrows
that run in the wind,
even when there's a cold blow
going,
and they work
like freaks
with sin on their mind.
Once I clear myself
of you,
I will write
like I used to,
I will be free
of the breakwaters
to read,
write,
and create
again, but love
or whatever-the-fuck-it-was,
has put a stop to
everything,
and I walk
to the bodega
with a head full of nothing;
no thermals,
no heat for me to ride, but I'm sure
I'll be okay,
I'm sure
you don't care.
I'd rather
be safe on some branch
lapping acid rain out
of a lead saucer,
than trying to ford
this river in the air
with nothing, not even a pair
of wet wings.
When I get
to the store,
I buy a pack of Marlboros
and ask
for all the lead
in the world.
He looks at me
with a screwface,
so I ask him again,
and he
says
"No loitering."
I was gonna fly home,
gonna try and test my
shoulder blades and see if maybe
I could make something happen.
But, I go to the garbage barge in the back
and sit, beside it, gravel scratching my *** with stingers,
as light scissors out of the sky;
little needles of sun in
the little oceans
in the little asphalt craters
making little,
if not any,
noise,
and I lean
drinking something slightly mean,
a forty and another in the bag,
because it usually helps in these situations.
I left my wings somewhere
and I cry there,
cry because I'm
stranded
in a place that I have never been,
with all the light in the world
and no place to put it.
I murked out,
at some point.
Feb 13, 2012
Feb 13, 2012 at 4:59 PM UTC