Flashpoems: Driving I‑10, I‑25, I‑40, I‑70
(Reprinted from Exquisite Corpse.)
1.
Storm over the Rockies,
drop solo out of sawblade
clouds on I-70
mtns cut to
mesas
Buffalo Bill’s buried still
atop Lookout Mtn, but
grave’s gone into this tundra
of rain.
Storm over the Rockies,
drop solo out of sawblade
clouds on I-70
mtns cut to
mesas
Buffalo Bill’s buried still
atop Lookout Mtn, but
grave’s gone into this tundra
of rain.
2.
Guy says: a mesa’s wider
than it is tall; a butte’s
taller than it is
wide. You
squeeze another 35 cents
unleaded into the tank.
Guy says: a mesa’s wider
than it is tall; a butte’s
taller than it is
wide. You
squeeze another 35 cents
unleaded into the tank.
3.
Gray thief fog
sneaks through Grand Junction,
tucks weedy lots
into its sack, even rabbits
feel safe
from the falcon.
Gray thief fog
sneaks through Grand Junction,
tucks weedy lots
into its sack, even rabbits
feel safe
from the falcon.
4.
Last night
a cricket said
Nerdua, Neruda, Neruda.
Last night
a cricket said
Nerdua, Neruda, Neruda.
5.
Trucks
dive
into
snow
squalls:
pale
paler
gone.
Trucks
dive
into
snow
squalls:
pale
paler
gone.
6.
Winter wheat
stalks bend: red
bows fiddle sky.
Winter wheat
stalks bend: red
bows fiddle sky.
7.
Crows
on that telephone line: restless necklace black laughing
pearls.
Crows
on that telephone line: restless necklace black laughing
pearls.
8.
Magpie
pecking a snowbank:
poemless page &
spilled inkwell.
Magpie
pecking a snowbank:
poemless page &
spilled inkwell.
9.
Green River.
Fog shreds
in wind:
a pine steps forward,
and another.
Green River.
Fog shreds
in wind:
a pine steps forward,
and another.
10.
rust
car wreck
rattlegrass
clover
burrheads
dog bones
bottleglass
lizard
here’s a poem:
pumpjacks.
rust
car wreck
rattlegrass
clover
burrheads
dog bones
bottleglass
lizard
here’s a poem:
pumpjacks.
11.
Stormclouds
upside down
Alps
rain drops
little Bavarians
climbing to the dirt.
Stormclouds
upside down
Alps
rain drops
little Bavarians
climbing to the dirt.
12.
Words left on walls:
spider with a mountain skin
skin is always a monster
snake rainbow
take wing tiny baby
Words left on walls:
spider with a mountain skin
skin is always a monster
snake rainbow
take wing tiny baby
13.
Midnight.
Her nipple
hides
the volcano.
Midnight.
Her nipple
hides
the volcano.
14.
Billboards in this storm
advertise sorrow.
Billboards in this storm
advertise sorrow.
15.
Pickup trucks in snowstorms
amass gradual loads of white
haul winter 99 miles.
Pickup trucks in snowstorms
amass gradual loads of white
haul winter 99 miles.
16.
Beau Jocque
and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers
Caifanes
Wall of Voodoo
Concrete Blonde
Cafe Tacuba
Catherine Wheel
Love & Rockets
Maldita Vecindad
Beau Jocque
and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers
Caifanes
Wall of Voodoo
Concrete Blonde
Cafe Tacuba
Catherine Wheel
Love & Rockets
Maldita Vecindad
17.
She next morning still
blooming on his fingers.
She next morning still
blooming on his fingers.
18.
Car cuts down the ramps colliding
head-on with each tomorrow: no
where in particular, man, you say
in the diner, just going
Car cuts down the ramps colliding
head-on with each tomorrow: no
where in particular, man, you say
in the diner, just going
19.
anywhere, America, just going,
you know?
anywhere, America, just going,
you know?
20.
one raindrop somersaults a butterfly
one raindrop somersaults a butterfly
21.
Crows shit
into the Grand Canyon
nature lovers
Crows shit
into the Grand Canyon
nature lovers
22.
deer freeze
car radio
passes
deer freeze
car radio
passes
23.
A wedge of crying geese
rusts
in empty sky.
A wedge of crying geese
rusts
in empty sky.
24.
October
signifying
October
October
signifying
October
25.
Glove caught in roadside tree
waves to pilgrims
who’ll not return.
Glove caught in roadside tree
waves to pilgrims
who’ll not return.
26.
coffee in a Kansas gas station
the wind
big rigs
nude magazines
looking everywhere for home
coffee in a Kansas gas station
the wind
big rigs
nude magazines
looking everywhere for home
27.
Snaketown, Twilight Zone, Kansas. Old building
behind a gas station. “6
Legged Steer” Alive! “5 Legged Cow.” Dead cars
and wrecks parked in
weeds across the front to lure wanderers in: looks
like ghosts of Interstate midnight pulled up to
spend $5 on the rattlesnake pits, the mutant animal
zoo. Oakley, Kansas ground to powder by
scudding black pumice of clouds. Wooden pits
with chicken wire roofs give up the smell of
rattles, snakes, skin, snakeshit, dead mice, poison.
The man at the counter bangs on the wire:
panicked sizzle of rattles rising, behind him
rattlesnake heads, snake skin belts, snake teeth,
snake head baseball caps, snakeskull belt buckles.
Out back, 6 legged steers, coyotes dreaming of the
prairie, badgers pacing
concrete. Tornadoes vector in on us, and the man
behind the counter
tells us these jokes: Yesterday we had a baby snake
that broke out crying. Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo. You
know why? because he broke
Snaketown, Twilight Zone, Kansas. Old building
behind a gas station. “6
Legged Steer” Alive! “5 Legged Cow.” Dead cars
and wrecks parked in
weeds across the front to lure wanderers in: looks
like ghosts of Interstate midnight pulled up to
spend $5 on the rattlesnake pits, the mutant animal
zoo. Oakley, Kansas ground to powder by
scudding black pumice of clouds. Wooden pits
with chicken wire roofs give up the smell of
rattles, snakes, skin, snakeshit, dead mice, poison.
The man at the counter bangs on the wire:
panicked sizzle of rattles rising, behind him
rattlesnake heads, snake skin belts, snake teeth,
snake head baseball caps, snakeskull belt buckles.
Out back, 6 legged steers, coyotes dreaming of the
prairie, badgers pacing
concrete. Tornadoes vector in on us, and the man
behind the counter
tells us these jokes: Yesterday we had a baby snake
that broke out crying. Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo. You
know why? because he broke
28.
his rattle! Hey!
It’s Saturday. Do you know
what cows do
around here on Saturday
nights? Go
to the moo-
vies!
his rattle! Hey!
It’s Saturday. Do you know
what cows do
around here on Saturday
nights? Go
to the moo-
vies!
29.
her legs converge twin stems one black lily
her legs converge twin stems one black lily
30.
Snow
flakes
pat
ter
soft
as
eye
blinks
Snow
flakes
pat
ter
soft
as
eye
blinks
31.
If I remain
still,
I can taste
her breast.
So strange
her texture
creams my
tongue.
If I remain
still,
I can taste
her breast.
So strange
her texture
creams my
tongue.
32.
Eyegames or Old Age:
LUBE
OIL &
TUNEUP
becomes, in rainy light:
LIVE
GILA
MONSTER
Eyegames or Old Age:
LUBE
OIL &
TUNEUP
becomes, in rainy light:
LIVE
GILA
MONSTER
33. Despairing of God, I came to the desert seeking saints.
The tongue of the tribe sleeping in my family
whispers spiny songs: chumampaco/place where they killed
the dogs: huirives/ bird: bacochibampo/ the water of
the serpents: bajeribampo/ the water of the lizards: cuirimpo/
the place of the drummers.
The freeway is the phrasebook
of the dreamers:
I will write — giostebareme.
Sing me a song — nech-che-biu-graia.
The sun is coming out — apo-po a-liey-ya.
Delepane. Good-bye.
The tongue of the tribe sleeping in my family
whispers spiny songs: chumampaco/place where they killed
the dogs: huirives/ bird: bacochibampo/ the water of
the serpents: bajeribampo/ the water of the lizards: cuirimpo/
the place of the drummers.
The freeway is the phrasebook
of the dreamers:
I will write — giostebareme.
Sing me a song — nech-che-biu-graia.
The sun is coming out — apo-po a-liey-ya.
Delepane. Good-bye.
34.
Good-bye.
Good-bye.
35.
America’s a page
of Kerouac: disjointed dharma poems in the brain
unspooling highways, paper rolls/black ink
black light/black coffee and doughnuts/black
berry jam on yer toast, honey/black sabbath
black magic/slap the black off you/black
eyed susans flouncing in ditches from here
to the Black Hills of sleeping South
Dakota, Crazy
Horse mtn flexing up
from the pine shadows, arm raised
into the sunrise as if the ghosts
of the tribes could rise: wheels
clickclack the fast lane like keys
of a wasted Underwood out of date
but typing, haunted, weeds fingering
the letters in a junkyard, some kind of
haiku: AM radio
sings its toilet paper hymns — cigarettes,
hamburgers, sports at ten till the hour,
conspiracies. Today
was tomorrow
yesterday. Today
was tomorrow
yesterday.
America’s a page
of Kerouac: disjointed dharma poems in the brain
unspooling highways, paper rolls/black ink
black light/black coffee and doughnuts/black
berry jam on yer toast, honey/black sabbath
black magic/slap the black off you/black
eyed susans flouncing in ditches from here
to the Black Hills of sleeping South
Dakota, Crazy
Horse mtn flexing up
from the pine shadows, arm raised
into the sunrise as if the ghosts
of the tribes could rise: wheels
clickclack the fast lane like keys
of a wasted Underwood out of date
but typing, haunted, weeds fingering
the letters in a junkyard, some kind of
haiku: AM radio
sings its toilet paper hymns — cigarettes,
hamburgers, sports at ten till the hour,
conspiracies. Today
was tomorrow
yesterday. Today
was tomorrow
yesterday.
36.
loneliness
family far off
rainstorm
loneliness
family far off
rainstorm
37.
My breath
throws clouds
down the road:
I follow.
My breath
throws clouds
down the road:
I follow.
38.
sips coffee in that window:
lone woman at sunrise
sips coffee in that window:
lone woman at sunrise
39.
while mockingbird
insults
the dawn
while mockingbird
insults
the dawn
40.
white panties on the clothesline net my desire like a fish
white panties on the clothesline net my desire like a fish
41.
r/n/d/r/p/s
r/n/d/r/p/s
42.
she lets down her hair. waterfall
she lets down her hair. waterfall
43.
All summer
she brought me
gardens in
her skirt.
All summer
she brought me
gardens in
her skirt.
44.
Roadkill
armadillo:
ants load up, scurry
dismantling armor
mechanic chefs cart snippets
in a dilly.
Roadkill
armadillo:
ants load up, scurry
dismantling armor
mechanic chefs cart snippets
in a dilly.
45.
Earth asleep, winter
comes: snowflakes:
10 million eyelids.
Earth asleep, winter
comes: snowflakes:
10 million eyelids.
46.
4 in the morning
and the Marlboro man’s still smoking
by the dead gas pumps,
lights like comets
burning over his head.
4 in the morning
and the Marlboro man’s still smoking
by the dead gas pumps,
lights like comets
burning over his head.
47.
red Mustang
neon
sunflowers
Stuckey’s
trading post
corn
here’s a poem:
pumpjacks
nod me home.
red Mustang
neon
sunflowers
Stuckey’s
trading post
corn
here’s a poem:
pumpjacks
nod me home.
48.
Delepane.
Ama-ni-huella, Dios tata itom Jicori.
Delepane,
delepane,
delepane.
Gone.
Delepane.
Ama-ni-huella, Dios tata itom Jicori.
Delepane,
delepane,
delepane.
Gone.
