..what if
countries were just
desired states
and not
geographical
abomi nations
would we
still have wars
or just
haikus
to test
citizenship?

…used to
date meat
at arsalan
and tango with rugby
at armenian
used to
learn to speak
at mr. engineer’s
and rhapsodize
on concertos
at dr. gazdar’s
(in between operations
where he
kept me alive
as my
pediatrician)
used to ponder on
migrations
at jewish girls
highschool conventions
and wonder
how
st thomas
doubted enough
to be buried
in indian turf
used to
inhale
smoke and smog
and dirt and dog
and exhale
diversity
that made this city
a cool shaded flury’s
in the midst of chaotic
tragedy
and now yougonna
purify me
tellyouwhat-
i’ll take my beef with you
i eat my meat
red
and
sacred

….an art show here
a coffee shop there
and a block disappears
makeovers that
make it over and over
until
all that remains
is a hidden gutter
that still smells the same
when it rains
and as i loiter
a little bit longer
breathing in
memories
of
dusty families
i realize that
brer fox would have
been a hipster today
a thinkingmans monster
all
fly with rejuvenation and funding
sly-ding into warehouses
where houses shoulda been homes
not pods
for alien lifeforms
drilling through living tissue to birth
the new millennium
And brer rabbit?
signed up to do
performance poetry
at the local brewery
i figure 

..its the pimples that i’m mesmerized by
eyes
transfixed by frozen youth
impervious now
to facewash and scolded backlash
and creams
that vanish little embarrassments
because thats how you were meant
to feel bad
not
this
nightmare of blue uniformed
revisionism
not
this
imagination of futures
now a frozen lie
like a jordan convincing us all
that we too can fly
not this.

…i hearya loudnclya 
that strident
“i’m doing everything i can”
is wearing thin
even those inflated buffers
of conscience
you regularly deploy
as ploy
asif i
need to bounce off that
spongy morass
so yo ass
can be covered
every which way from here
to ivy league tranquility
asif you
can press that shutter
at the exact moment of deepest descent
to say
“see? i was there for that dissent”
listen – i get it
somewhere on that cv
you need that entry
for concientious objector
except
yesterday you forgot for a second
what
you were objecting to
and turned to me snarling
“this guilt trip is a sham-man
i’m doing everything i can”
and i hearya sista
and i seeya
loudnclya

 

barred windows and altfiction a restriction of moves with partially restricted views sold fullprice despite halftruths and quarterednews

…drop the mic
and then slash the wire
for goodmeasure
reseal
the fucking envelope
and hand the treasure
over to waiting predators
backstage
go back to
clapping for la la landscapes
and bro derline personality disorders-
the odours
of celluloid disclosures
will keep seeping
through the doors
of that closet

…the empire taught me how to smile
cracked skin taut over stretched lips
mouthcorners shivering under the strain 
of holding up centuries
of acquiescence
acknowledging nonsense
with clenched teeth
trapped behind
lip service

..its the algebra of the new empire really
redbaiting always trumps racist insanity
and is the only thing
that might get you a congressional inquiry
eliminate unknown inequalities
through substitituion and elimination:
find the lowest common denominator
and multiply multiply multiply
until all sides lie
on only one end
of the operand
and
youll see howeasy it is
to quibble yourself to
a new
equilibrium
those multiple choices
are just so many voices
forcing you to
tick
all of the above
all answers are just as equal
and
all questions
just as unreal
welcome
to the newmath!

…didntja wanna know
why i keep tellinya
that orange is the new black
and whitehouses backtrack
like radioshack
sellin blowback
on an 8-track?
hereyago muthafuckas
keep yo eye now
on the rejiggered
immigrationban
about to hit your spotify
on the dl so itll
slide on by
just like the oldays
when
coolio presidents
set precedents
by kickinout immigrants
at such fast rates that
you and i
didnt even see them driveby
this then
is how right learns from left-
throw a suckerpunch with
the leading fist
while the other crotchgrabs
and persuades you that
you no longer need to resist
hahahaha – this is a 1-2
that wont have even me trippin
dontknow how to dance
but these steps? they’re
hard wired in
and yet….