And then there are the Gentlemen of Letters like Francisco y Zeta

And then there are the Gentlemen of Letters like Francisco y Zeta

In them you hear a brother not exactly

like your own, but Similar, is that

not my language too? Yes, said 

the Hermanos de poesîa, Welcome,

sister. Whateva I have, its Yours

if you want it--Consensual

Affections, I'm down with That,

I don't use Force in Seduction.

He's Gay, Lyrical, Dead or Alive:

a Gentleman of Letters is known

by his Conduct and Imagination.

So False is the Scholar who is a

sexual harasser or Rapist. 

A Poet works in Truths,

imitated, evoked, or Impossible.

I Know How Gregor Felt: Cockroaches and Brown Buffalo

I know how Gregor felt, obsessed by Beauty,
the Picture on the Wall evermore Real
than Brittle joints of Legs that aren't ours;
one day upon waking, they're Part of us
along with a Carapace and shrieking
sounds. No, not so Loud but discernible
as Buzzwords, Insect Lingo, Ya estufas!
What matters anyway asked el Pachuco?
Life has no Value, no vale Nada
la Vida. Enter el Anthropollywog
flashing signs of its MentalGhettoWorld:
Our liberal Values have made us Sublimer
"Such Experts are biased toward Cockroaches!"
the Brown Buffalo once more objected.

In Xochitl of the PoetriBal Hermanallianzabecederia: pa FXA UCD

Francisco Equis Alarcon, Mano, Pana,

ya llego del Salvador, yo se, Maestro,

Que me corrije y me Honra mejorarme.

So, Whaddup Francisco? How are you?

How's it como te va?  Y You Strike me

As Legitimo poeta, je 

n’sais qua, Principe Escritor jefe

de Nuestra en Cuicatlan, Francisco!

How boldly you are who is what his Fame 

has Imparted. Sincero Creador

de PalaFlorabra…Hermano Joven

Senor. It’s been Chill knowing you in spirit,

if only by Internet and yet so
real is our Wordsky on a Full moon.

Dear Senator I'm Calling about the Dream Act

Dear Senator, Mz or Mister, I called

in support of the Dream Act, remember

we need it passed. The Dreamers have rallied,

hungered, been arrested. Gave their young wrists

to the cold, metallic handcuffs, smiling

in Civil Disobedience. Thoreau  

was there at Walden. Bad stuff was going

down like chattel slavery first off. No

need to look far for Injustices’s damages

to fair America. Emancipate

our Dreamers que Ya Estufas, never

Linger when democracy lies

beneath the Guillotine. Advance Senate,

House, Cool Dual Congress, Unearth the Sky.

Insane Autodidacts of Odilia Rivera Santos's Mundos and Moondoms

 Oh no, here we go breaking rules of our

informality. Actually talking?

Wh-ha-at could That Be?

Sssshhhh quiet down. An Apotheosis

is at foot. We are Waltzing Flaneurs.

We cool we Old Schoole don’t Get that Wrong.

But there’s some Hot Damned wonderful people

in charge of Destiny’s greater Power.

Poetry was the first to find the World.

Science bottled up words, wrote Formulae,

established rules for Thoughts, got Ideas

from a mind Pre-Shaped with Verbs of all Colors,

Hues, and Sizes. I think because I am

was first a Poem. Whaddya think of that?

Sonnet for Señor Rubén Salazar

Sonnet for Señor Rubén Salazar 

 

One projectile and four decades ago,

when the writer fought against death quiet

and slow, (for they say that the end is so:

a stillness of time and place, a not-yet

that occurs to the dying, a no, not

just yet.)  And as the voice of refusal

rises again and again to make stop

death’s procedure, the will of the martyr

seizes its newfound purpose; what but death,

cowardly death, accepts vile orders

to squelch the people’s pen by state power?

So close we had come, as close as a breath,

to freedom's center.  Above and beneath

we remember him, Señor Salazar.

Transcendentalists in adVerse SeptemIams--For Sor Juana and the WCW's

Transcendentalists in Free Verse SeptemIams (Yes, Dr. Williams, it’s Yours)

Twenty Lines

Removed from the library, I go to the computer screen.

I’m going to say it with 10 Count them 10 sounds

Across—Actually, this is a 14 sound line.  Let’s

Call it the septemeter~~~Wooow, doesn’t it sound something

like September?  tWO WOrds not Particularly Pretty,

see how you can actually cut off letters with a Knife?

So you say that’s a metaphor, these Words aren’t Really

Cut by Nine Knives. I've been Advised that we should get a sense

of how your Ego is Handling this?  Are you Over
Reacting again? What is it Anger? Or Violence
unstrung beyond your Reasoning.  Hate and Fury Precede

WitchHunts, Book Burnings, Censure, and Such.There are some very

Small players in Miniature Dollhouses.  They need Cover.

Such Fine Actors of Hysteria are Vain Uncivil
Educated pawns. They are Multiple 1’s all in Line.
Trigger it And they will Circle, play at Victimizing
fun.  The Silly BoyaBoys Network possesses its Very
own Nifty Vengeance Button. This is where a Damned good
Education Dulls the Bludgeon for they would not wish to
be Caught at it, the Coats, Shirts, and Neckties who throw the Blows.

Yeah, we’re Facebook Poets, America: To My Buddies B.R., Francisco, Alma,

Yeah, we’re Facebook Poets, America.
We don’t own no Bookstores or Publishing
Houses. What do those Companies know
about Literature when all they do is
Pander to the past? James Joyce was awesome
because he’d understand. Imaginations
don’t believe in Limits. They go Fast, Fast,
Fast and Tire with Rehearsing what has
already been Said over and again.
Poor minds, they’d rather just focus on what’s
easier at times to grasp. But that don’t
mean we wouldn’t like some artistic change.
Not everything should be packaged for cash
then left to fill the Sales Bins before
turning into trash. How ‘bout we just post
a poem that consumes no paper, no gas
It says a few things but creates no waste
which poisons our Water and Kills our Taste.

Chicana/o Poet's Tree: Free the Dream Act So Our Young Trees Can Grow

You keep your money; I work for my meals,
but let our arts and languages go free.
Don't ban our Studies by Cruel Decree.
We are self-sustaining. Chicana/o
Poetry grows from its own History
and asks you for nothing. It has Students,
Professors, critics and the Tweeters want
It too! A Trunk of Democracy.
Its leaves of Social Change are Flowering.
Ecology’s no question. We must
care for this Tree to keep strong the struggle
for our Liberty! Its Canopy will shade
You, Locos, Inutiles, Viejos, All!
Yes our Poetic Roots still hold us Tall.