Tuesday, March 31, 2015

EILEEN R. TABIOS and SANDY MCINTOSH'S "EILEEN R. TABIOS"




(This feature is part of TRUCK’s Theme Issue on the List or Catalog Poem. You can go HERE for an Index of the Participating Poets.)



from “I FORGOT LIGHT BURNS”

“What is to give light must endure burning.”
—Victor E. Frankl


I forgot I was a connoisseur of alleys—

I forgot the glint from the fang of a wild boar as he lurked behind shadows in a land where it only takes one domino to fall—

I forgot how quickly civilization can disappear, as swiftly as the shoreline from an oil spill birthed from a twist of the wrist by a drunk vomiting over the helm—

I forgot grabbing at my fading dreams only to recall a vision of skyscrapers crumbling from the slaps of iron balls—


*


I forgot mangos, eaten before they ripened—they were savored with much salt and first soaked in vinegar—


*


I forgot a brother—

I forgot the brother who gave me a rainbow trapped within enamel—


*


I forgot the light burned and we never shaded our eyes—


*


I forgot discovering the limited utility of calm seas—

I forgot appreciating a delicadeza moonlight as much as any long-haired maiden—

I forgot the stance of cliffs meeting water—


*


I forgot I was not an immigrant; I was simply myself who lacked control at how the world formed outside the “Other” of me—

I forgot learning to appreciate rust, and how it taught me bats operate through radar—





*****




Eileen R. Tabios
 

By Sandy McIntosh 

"I really think you should title this poem 'Eileen R. Tabios'"
--Eileen R. Tabios




Eileen R. Tabios 

Announced today 

That her next book 

Will be 
5000 pages long. 

In an unrelated development
Eileen R. Tabios 

Announced 

That she has acquired 

A major interest 

In International Harvester, 

The only U.S. manufacturer 

Of oversize-poetry forklifts. 



It was learned 

Early today 

That Eileen R. Tabios' 

Book for the next year 

Will be 

13,000 pages long. 

In an unrelated development 

Eileen R. Tabios 

Announced 

That she has acquired 

San Francisco's famous 

Coit Tower 

Which she will turn 

Into a library 

Housing one large print 

Version of her book. 



It was learned 

Early today 

That Eileen R. Tabios 

Has acquired large tracts 

Of the Pacific Ocean 

For an unknown purpose. 

In an unrelated development 

Eileen R. Tabios 

Announced 

That the number of pages 

Of her future books 

Will be counted 

In leagues and fathoms. 



It was learned 

Early today 

(continued next page)


______
("I FORGOT LIGHT BURNS" is from I FORGOT LIGHT BURNS by Eileen R. Tabios (Moria Books, Chicago, 2015)

"Eileen R. Tabios" was first published in The After-Death History of My Mother by Sandy McIntosh (Marsh Hawk Press, New York, 2005)





Monday, March 30, 2015

HALVARD JOHNSON




(This feature is part of TRUCK’s Theme Issue on the List or Catalog Poem. You can go HERE for an Index of the Participating Poets.)



Favorite California Churches


Church of the Sacred Cucumber
St. Vitamin's
Santa Cuisinart
Church of the Holy Rose Bowl
St. Vim and St. Vigor
2nd Church of Santa Clarification and Mudslide
Temple of the Seedless Orange
Valley United Methadone
Iglesia de Julio
Seventh Chapel of San Andreas de Culpa
Our Lady of Dolores del Rio
Synagogue Ben Hur
Cathedral of the Blessed Catheter





Vielle priére bouddhique


May all things flow into whatever it is they are flowing into.
May those who are lost find happiness in their lostness.
May those who cannot tie their shoelaces learn to do without shoes.
May those who behead one another keep their wits about them.
May those who are slack straighten up and fly right.
May the powerless learn to remember to pay their bills on time.
May those who are unagitated bestir themselves to action.
May those who are angry chill out. May all your prayers
be answered or, perhaps even better, unanswered.





6 Kirghiz Proverbs

                   "It comes as the Kirghiz light."
                                   --Thomas Pynchon

1.   One who does not respect one's father,
will also not respect one's grandfather.

2.   Better to have dry farmland than to have
a father who is in charge of water distribution.

3.   It is as if the Moon gave birth to one's front
and the Sun gave birth to one's back.

4.   One who has six sons has cattle in six places.

5.   Money is good in an urban area.

6.   A stupid man builds a house, 
an intelligent man makes friends.





Retrospective Narratives


*

Once up
on a time.

*

A darkened
stormy knight.

*

Lonely horse
man riding
in two towns.

*

Best of
worst of.

*

Wood you
believe in.



_________
Poems first published in Remains to Be Seen (New York: Spuyten Duyvil, 2013)



Sunday, March 29, 2015

JIM McCRARY




(This feature is part of TRUCK’s Theme Issue on the List or Catalog Poem. You can go HERE for an Index of the Participating Poets.)




Twenty Ways To Write a Poem


Meditate
Nap
Dream a dreamy dream
Beg
Borrow
Steal
Revise
Refuse
Reduce
Recycle
Pray
Scream
Open a window
Close a door
Shut it off
Shut it down
Scoop it up
Dish it out
Question
Start Again
Say you will quit
Don't quit
Give up
Give in
Give away
If all else fails...submit





*****

Jim McCrary when he wasn't old:


SHLOKA SHANKAR




(This feature is part of TRUCK’s Theme Issue on the List or Catalog Poem. You can go HERE for an Index of the Participating Poets.)



Looking Out the Window


A streetlight comes on.
The neighbor’s bike comes to a halt.
He opens the gate.
Across the street, a little girl
plays hop-scotch.
She dusts her dress.
Shadows of bare tree branches
create patterns on the window
farthest from me.
The air is faintly chillier
than it was an hour ago.
I hear bursts of silence between
plying vehicles.
Walking past my window,
a man cracks his knuckles.
Headlights become brighter
momentarily.   
Another day unwinds itself
into night.