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)