"mandan" poems
Western Sources
Mist, rain and snowmelt gather
And soak the Montana crests.
A trio of rivulets carves the slopes,
Grow to rivers that braid into a single course
And the Missouri is born at Three Forks.
Shoshone and Hidatsu rest from the hunt,
Kneel and cup their hands
To raise life giving liquid to their lips
While horses bow beside them
Bellies filled with the refreshing waters.
The river flows north dividing the tall grasslands,
Plunges over the cataracts at Great Falls,
Churns on the rocks below
And drives inexorably toward the sea.
Mandan and Sioux
Soft flute sounds drift from the Mandan village
Intertwining with the riffling music of the river.
By its banks a coarse French trapper roasts a rabbit
To share with his Shoshone child-bride.
Sacagawea sings softly beside him -
Charboneau's son stirring in her womb.
Sioux warriors on horseback
Stand guard by the shores.
How many travelers have passed?
How many are yet to come?
Beyond the rolling hills
A buffalo stumbles and falls
Pierced by Lakota arrows and spears.
Boats in the Water
At River du Bois where the Missouri
Collides with the Mississippi,
Forty men slip into boats and take to the oars
To interpret Jefferson’s continental dream -
Their keelboat laden with sustenance,
Herbs, weapons and powder.
They carry trinkets to dazzle the natives
And cast bronze medals to give them
Bearing images of their "Father in Washington"
That none had asked to have.
May, 2004
Aug 3, 2013
Aug 3, 2013 at 5:42 AM UTC
A continent's scout
That once touched Pacific sands,
Has on the Natchez Trace
Taken his life at Grinder's Stand.
Such the news the Chickasaw
Agent bore
Telling President Jefferson
The great scout Meriwether Lewis
Is no more.
Five years prior, you were commissioned
To a quest,
Mr. Jefferson sending you forth
To explore the core of a new nation's
Enigmatic west.
The Mandan's song still warbles
In your ears,
While the mighty Missouri's current
Still rushes through your tears.
And now, on a porch of a tavern
In west Tennessee,
You look back in that direction
That has ever seduced thee--
You cannot seem to shake him--
That black dog of lassitude--
That murderous hell-hound what has
Shadowed you across majestic
American longitudes.
His image is there, in the polish
Of your piece
With every throb of your head
His moan ebbs at your peace.
During the journey, Clark was always
There to help stay the hound...
Knew how to handle him,
Knew how to keep him bound.
Perhaps that is why you are looking west
This time around.
Not for something new,
That, you have found.
No, you are simply looking yonder for
Someone to **** this **** hound.
May 23, 2017
May 23, 2017 at 11:28 PM UTC
la pajarera de pentecostés
no te acostés no con la parajera
viajaba por la nieve un abanico
leve le daba en la mitad del pájaro
había alcaldes discursos mi sombrero
saludaba galantepenconstés
tus manos sí que usaban guantes crueles
y antes fieles cantaban mis mejillas
las pajarillas aban cantapiés
de pies señores ándales de pies
carancanfúncales carancanfúncales
perro amigo en el bazo y en el tres
así será así fue así es
tres claro tres pelotas así es
claramente cortado de costado
como mi pan sinmigo pero entrado
y alguno cuándo no murmura ves
te robaré en un cab tirado por camellos
reales y la reina de Inglaterra
los vecinos de envidia se arrancaban los cabellos
y nos mandan precisamente a la mierda
pero nosotros vamos directamente a un cielo
donde te como el cuello muy delicadamente
y tú eres un desierto abierto entre dos senos
y yo como un camello te recorro caliente
y después del amor volvemos al amor
y amoramos amamos amemoramos mamos
y las huríes danzan adentro de una flor
y entonces te traiciono inevitablemente
con una hurí que se parece a ti
por que Alá no está institucionalizada
y como yo no quiero serte infiel
y vos tenés la culpa que lo sea
es mejor que te cases con aquél
y te conviertas en una gorda fea
y entonces yo diré en el café del barrio
cuando pases moviendo tu ser y tu no ser:
"pude haber hecho una mujer de esa mujer
si hubiese sido necesario"
770
La Rita tiene que tiene
tal meneo cuando anda,
que arriba mueve los senos
y que abajo las enaguas.
La nariz tiene picuda
y la mejilla picada,
y una melena cortita
de greñas tristes y lacias
en que clava una peineta,
cual su boca, desdentada.
Azares de su destino
la trajeron a esta casa,
que es hermana de escribanos
que en el pueblo lucen chapa.
En algún lance le hicieron
rosa viva las entrañas,
y en su cuidado dispersa
casi todo lo que gana:
mas la que le tiene el chico
se bebe lo que le mandan
sin que se atreva a quitárselo.
618
Cuando la mente
se llena de anestesia,
es porque esta
en un paraíso oculto
de aquellos pensamientos
que me mandan a otro planeta.
Jan 15, 2019
Jan 15, 2019 at 8:58 AM UTC