U K A S E

“Let the candidate . . .” trailing off

            “fill his mind . . .” cough

            “with the finest cadences . . . ” attend attend

            “he can discover / preferably in

            “a foreign language”    B  A  S  T  A!

                                    “so that the meaning of the words

                                                “may be less likely to divert his attention

                                                “from the movement . . .”

            music /  rhythm

                             in verse libre

                                                Herr Pound taught syllable-sound play  

SOUND VALUE

                                                                                                            (sound scrip)   

                                    & as Olson projected in verse

                                                            syllables STACK STRESS 

                                                                        Y  E  S !

                        & in phrase Anglais the self’s song-truths reckon

                                    prosodies of yore

                                                (yr Old English Seafarer here)

                        “. . . e.g. Saxon charms / Hebridean Folk Songs / the verse

                                    “of Dante / & the lyrics of Shakespeare . . .”

                                               

                                    syllables long & short        DURATION / D  u  r  a t i o n

                                                            stressed / UNstressed

                                                                        vowels / consonants

                                    & for Pound into England 

                                                arriving by a commodius vicus

                                                to v e r s e  i n  c r i s i s

                                    (one follows his storm through beaded curtains

                                                under saturated clouds against windows)          

                                                Aye / & for early P to fill the ear shd fill the eye.  

1

bc they’re hunting wets / shit /  so he told

Xochitl don’t go flouting all yr semana bracelets at once

w/ yr snakeskin boots y todo at pinche Wallmart

or best keep yr SS card handy just in case—socia

so entonces

& so Xochitl laughs

& earlier that day in Vegas

Chaley noticed under his glass tabletop

            sitting alone w/ his icecold domestic draft

            General D Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana

his napkin on his face / his leg well / god knows where that’s at

nice domestic draft / cold / & broadcast on television to his left: sports

he never watched / once at a bar in Tuxson he watched

PBS but that only once / w/ ol Agustín Yabronez de Rioseco

in all likelihood off to make his fortune—great bigheaded

fortress of Mexico / el gringo te chingó

cabrona / to Xochitl / te chingó chingó

now on bullriding / & another screen tractors

pulling big loads of junk really fast & flames

erupting from their pipes

& then Chaley w/o interpreter sd I’d have ye know

that ye’ve come from distant lands at our lord’s

bidding / our Presidente Chuy / who’s many many

lords & vassals myself included has sent me

to command yr great princessly fortune & give

up yr sacrifices & stay away from lost gringos--

somber distance too please—stop eathing flesh

of yr neighbors & quit it all w/ all that sodomy

& other things ye do behind yr walls—for such’s

the living will of our lord President Chuy Xst

& in these firme Untied States of Amurka--

in which we all believe & whom

we worship—great giver of life & death / bear up

bastarda to Freedomlandia

& Xochitl laughed at this

& Chaley then expounded how heard abt some distant

Tío Taco so-called (& also Father Taco[1] / from he who birthed

Chaley w/ his thoughts)

who worked nightshifts at the university hospital north of speedway as a cook

                                    & one day he showed up at work bien crudo

                                & wooshy woozy / & as he stirred the boiling menudo

                                    in a ten-gallon pot he slipped / smashing his chin

                                on the cauldron & loosening his glass eye

                                    which / clarín / chinga que damn / fell directly into the soup

his insurance wdn’t cover the costs of a new one / & since then

that Tío Taco has been one-eyed

           

further enhancing his gnomishness

true story

& Xochitl: ¿cd ye tell

me more abt our Holy Amurka?

& remained silent staring

at her shoes / or floor

w/ eyes closed--

 

well then I guess now there’s nothing

else I can do cept put up my flag--

 

& then some drunk güey sitting at bar’s furthest corner

sd “make peace w/ this pendejo / lady / & fill

“yrself w/ his jobs & honor our Virgen / & make

“sweet sacrifice of yr red/white/blue bleeding

“body—pos yr heart & blood mi morena—”

 

haughty words indeed

 

& Xochitl / w/ authoritas

chalchihuites in her ears--

feathered hair—her

only desire to serve

Chaley & his gods

Chaley her tecle

who already promised

to make rounds

w/ her in the Vegas tiangüez

Xochitl sd to that güey back there:

“know yrself puta madre cabrón

“look out for yrself gordo

“pinche rosepetal tamal”
& proceeded to threaten

to lop off his feet

Chaley not surprised

had heard of these Mezkins

from Pancho’s letters

& library / of Mezkins

in AZtlán—enmity

deeply rooted

in their hearts /

& such this Mezkin

character of that under

cover of peace

they wd only practice greater

treachery—for they

never kept their word--

whatever promised--

[note: & as his translator / ye Malinche—outsider within / insider without]

looking Xocitl in her eyes

in more or less dyadic terms—unspoken

mind—w/ him

& minimal attention to her eyelashes

& how she cd

turn our Aztec empire

upon itself / state of civil

war brought on—no--

instigated by outsiders--

same ol Amurkan

logic / Puerto Rico / Nicaragua / El Salvador / Panama / Chile / Argentina / Cuba / DR / Guatemala / El Salvador / Iraq

& Chaley maybe harbored secret

muddleclass [sic] Amurkan dreams

alignin w/ certain

things & comin to know Quetzalcoatl--

performin certain ethnic behaviors--

2

&

she

Xochitl

before outing

Vegas sola

& encountering

Chaley . . .

Xochitl

publishes her blog tunes off her dig music      

leaves thru backdoor / of her cousins’ casita / screen slams / lights her way                                                          w/ her keychain light & approaches barnwise she

thru her silk Wallmart panties she

soft touch be ticklen her fanny

sitting feels tonguey

how she likey that she be

him for he knows she be thought

for ye also bygmaster have

it she whispers before entering

important for her place

& it meant  big deals yes

to her grass she weeping

oceseven this hill

sky able to feel her

there:                                              message

some man tall dark

Temo

                                    ghost of McTlán
return

                                    from talltime

Orizaba firm

                                    he stands

&

chingao / ¿who’s this güey?[2]

adstupet ipse sibi uultuque

inmotus eodem haeret

ut e tenochtitlan formatum

marmore signum . . .

3

no doubt some down&out Meskin

forced to seek better

conditions in Hell Norte--

another wronged by Amurka’s

slow relentless pressure

of agricultural / mineral / financial

/ & oil corporate interests

on this Messican’s nation’s

entire economic & social/historical

evolution / true soldier

of the rekonkuistsa &

   out of his wifebeater dark

   her mind her clitoris to clam                                    M   A   M   A   S   I   T   A

   calming too much quick now / ay

   off                                                                                  S   O   L   I   D

   so cold check on her hoss

   knowing to explore that

   in her most prized CHEEK

   down she can please any

   man or Mezkin hoss deep down inside

   her she wanted woods loved

   hosses madder her warm moist arous--

   Temo & she both galloped thru precise processions

   she dreamt of it when her

   husband proposed he loved

   silk panties b/c she bent on her knees & toucheyed

   almost feels like fingers but when he

   lifted her head slowly lightly licking

   her clit she Xochitl then looked at her

   hosbonde’s presence now outside barn window

   so far away he always coming supersmart

   no she didn’t

   hossin w/ Temo their family Mezkin hoss

her cousins’ jointly-owned Vegas stable

   out near National Guard armory & Vegas

   fairgrounds

   & Xochitl again we must tell no one checked

   her voicemail  & Temo sd seemon

4

but Xochitl

here in this bar made mouth to this compa

sitting back alone crying into his warmin tecate

& Chaley shd sey there’s no truth

ye can know everything / Xochitl

ey hey hey hey there: girl using skirt w/ button-down shirt

quickly she scampers by

 how close & hidden Xochitl & Chaley found themselves so close his

breath on her cheek & tho no music they held plenty

including how she held her breath & shivered

& he thought I’m young old Tio Pancho man sure as hell lived

no life like Virginia Woolf but I cd learn to pick

pockets like this for my daily bread my real living

wages carajo b/c I espeak that langwedge

between myself . . . between my ancestors & myself

& not all verbs nor tenses cover that tension

& she looked at him something nice nice woman

here woman this woman Chaley sd hallo hallo

sure strike me as someone beautiful someone

entirely beautiful for me at this moment

struck     spin      swerve redbricks          beneath            gas       blood               machine

5

& earlier Xochitl’s

world vibrated synesthetically

she strolled in sporting her synthetic fibers

heels in purple syllables YEA &

for before she drove this

freeway / her heels off below

her legs/ lefty toeing her

purple spikes righty maintaining

injection of fuel into her

mighty three-punto-five L

four-banger she

passed roadside skyline sculp-

tures of rocks & plastics

she: artist queen of children

her sublime ruffians

she—incinerates mastadons

she—worms & swords her squirms & chortles

she—saves for rainy days

she—jangles whinny trio of tenors

she—whose eyebrows as nests of swallows

she—fabricates w/o scarring sweet 40 winks

she—one sweet forty winker then indeed indeed

she—ruby-throated hummingbird

she—who combs sea snails near Oaxacan seashores

she—whose shoulders drip dry champagne

she—jangles whinnies in her trio of terms

she—gracious beehive mama

she—engages worrying currents

she—victim of some fambly trauma

she—houses & raises wild ferrets

she—eyelines big brownblack eye

she—lightly singing singing signing

she—lyrical outburst twothree time

she—even eats all natural natural

she—left three ones as tip for her barrista

she—never leaves that much ever

she—felt guilty today &

she—didn’t know exactly why after all ‘twuzn’t

she—who went off lookin to study codex thru glass downsouth

she—stayed home worked around her cousins’ casita & to go had to go

she—lightly signing signatures & singing b/c

she—hasn’t dramatic ins & outs like Chastitellez outbursts

she—ain’t chaotic

she—doesn’t have snakes for eye

LA PUTA MUERTE—now she had snakeyes for Chastiteyez

she—onyx lampadhphore Phenix amphore

she—knows  little bit less than when

she—started but

she—still knows everything

she—pink anguish now sunk ash now conch resonantly foolish to drink trash gold gash of unicorn lash naked lank thick junglebush wink flash

she—recollected for praxis—yeh pragmatic

6

YUP: she ye know we worship for she Mamas forth

into godliness see her Great

Mama river & earth & sky to plain until foot

in part park & part parking lot

ravishment & phantasy those

lucky onlookers soaked of subsequent

worth makes me think she thinks . . . review

some tangent what we’ve thought

our manitas on here claims stylistic representation

sometimes          

               this our heroine gets caught

out in rain w/o her umbrella & wet

she gets or pulled back into a choke hold

she—looked down at him suddenly unaware of her brown eyes startling under thick black mextiza brows yea so

she—s not beautiful exactly sd Chaley but such bonedrawn distinction

well b/c            anyway he sees

7

a hapless fertile plain

& touching hands ¿ye

listen to Nacho Vegas? ¿too?

muy nice



[1] Careful: tacos talk to tricksters


[2] mira: estay entray                                 ¿este maestro

el deecho y                                                                sabe tichar?

el icho—                                                                 ¿tichar? ¿eres un tichar?

eye                                          

oon taycho                                                             —¡callete musasho!--

hear those jets roar overhead & the cold snow that didn’t stick this afternoon

waves of it blew like moths/

                                                                                                                         

swirled eddies of air silhouetted w/ ice

¿where dyall giet dem Ann-o-WAK cowboy hats?

whence ice crystals in the sky these rainbow constellations

           

sombra some sombra some sombra from this engulfing AZtlán heat

¿where dyall giet dem Ann-o-WAK cowboy hats?

¿where dyall giet dem Ann-o-WAK cowboy hats?

1

& Hrothgar / builds largest meadhall known

in northland

central tower powering visibility & gasping awe

see that his meadhall’s gaping facade

one new penal centrality of this recent dominant chosen

king bigdick social order

“looky everyone in society has a place . . . ”

& for Germanic tribes / everyone has sum value

& wrongdoers offer hard cash / gold baby /

for expressing serious grief articulated from those unvoiced beasts

& see Hrothgar wants to give his people everything / except slaves & common land /

see he’s generally idealistic & wants his society up & utopic

but that eventually burned down / sometime in future / (hinted at in text)

& grand opening / this poet sings abt creation

creator made “awl dis fer us awl”

& GRENDAL / from that race of Cain cursed since origin

attacks Herot bc he’s excluded / velvetroped off

& again bc he’s powerful hungry

somewhat apish in posture / w/ slants for brows & hairy shoulders one ungrateful biped

& he rips 30 warriors to shreds while sleeping in deep drunken sleep

& he of course eats these pigs gassy piece by gassy piece

then turns for continuous regular rounds of sweeps & ultimately

ruins the good times of house of erection Herot Hall every night for twelve

agonizing dry years

& thusly Hrothgar’s civilization has problems w/ a monster impotence

so these Geats hear abt Grendal

& Beowulf proud warrior chooses fourteen of his best men

to travel to Herot & help helpless Hrothgar

safely redistribute his powerful hand over those

unexpected labor expenditures lost in Grendal’s troubling jaws

& these great Geats arrive / thank gods / for “helpin”

them make that cold path on black asphalted whaleroad

windy & winedark as documented / & as they toast their warm frothy meads

& rip into their bags of teriyaki jerky & spiced pistachios

as some coast guardian in a helmet arrives

& he notes something to himself

under his breath abt how one must judge a man’s words w/ his works

& this helmeted guardian’s dazed

by big Beowulf’s brassclub / BEOWULF / Edgetheow’s son / & Beowulf

pours out his mead into a figure eight on the cold ground

cold gray ground rocky & sez grimly “we’re Healock’s hearth

companions / we’re what ye call nobles” & from awestruck

to starstruck this helmeted guardian scratches his ass

& he then sez “well got-daim / whynt ye say so /

step yrself right disway” & they did step right that way

& straight away these warriors arrive at Hrothgar’s castle

shimmering gold / & the receptionist Wulfgar / some foreigner

receives them / “uma where’d you buy that magnificent bodyarmor?

But first state yr business”

& Beowulf: “shut up.”

& Wulfgar: “come again?”

& Beowulf: “let me tell that king who I am. He’ll be happy. Now shut the fuck up.”

Hrothgar knew Beowulf as a young buck

knew of Beowulf’s strength of thirty warriors / legendary enough

& Hrothgar reminds Beowulf he owes him a favor / plays Brando /

& Beowulf will pay his daddy’s deep debt

but mark there gazes cast B-ward from unpeaceful implacable nonsensical Unferth positioned at his majesty’s feet yea he’d heard of Beowulf’s swim

who hadn’t really? & Beowulf’s second place to Brecca

& well Unferth thinks his stance

stood firm & his thoughts strong so he recounts

sd swim match between Brecca & Beowulf / that horrific

swim for three days in complete armor & constantly

attacked by seamonsters . . . & who won that race again?

& B notices something in Unferth’s squinty constitution

sez he’s heard of Unferth around how he killed his own brother

& that’s criticism enough where I’m from . . . but

let us see what Geats can do since Danes aint done

a gotdamned thing & Beowulf turns to Queen Weltheow

& he sez it’s all or nothing baby

this brings hope to Hrothgar indeed & why wdn’t it?

2

everyone asleep                        except one                    Grendal out                  in dark              sees Herot’s                 high beams             reaching eating  his fingers

            touch                door                 it blows open                Grendal swipes one warrior                   two                  turns & reaches            Beowulf            Beowulf in return

            swipes Grendal             Grendal’s bloody shoulder                    & when

                                    Beowulf turns to stab Grendal

            Grendal . . . escapes                             yes Beowulf pulled off Grendal’s arm                                       

3

issue of monsters: but let’s go back just one moment

to unpeaceful Unferth & his teases toward Beowulf

that social pact of linguistic power enacted

& embodied in their communicative performances

historically situated / always already socially &c / & how later

after Beowulf blew him off Unferth took notes by candle’s

light in his study later that cold night to uncover

more digs to stick to this Geat warrior so badass

& when he sees Beowulf again he’ll give him another little

tease taste this time abt how it feels having a father

die of discontent / low blow o yea / esp bc everyone

knows no son can avenge his father’s death

if his father’s killer is that same son / little logical

paradox that maybe Dedalus wd sey leads

to Shakespeare’s third cousin Titus Andronicus

well let that pass let that be until that rearrives just keep all that in mind:

now / mind: Herot Hall that pleasure dome & stately palace

represents unity / a center of monumental sausage civilization

imposed on his own people by King Hrothgar

Hrothgar good lord who protects his Danes

& his Danes loyal to this lord’s sword

serve this lord

love this lord

Danes owe this lord total allegiance

& Hrothgar rewards his Danes for their allegiance he sez

by contracting his people against their wills to build

their hearts into Herot making his imagined penis visible for all this universe

that textured symbolic allegiance between masculine master & his divided people

weaver of peace & all his royal women married off to forge

alliances / symbolic specimens of peace / fine pieces

all for these big burly hairy men / & think of Grendal’s

mama / that unkeeper of peace / & how all queens pass

brimming cups of jeweled mead as peace treaties of sorts

                        that mystery . . .

4

            —as to why Cain slew

his brother was he angry w/ God or not pleased

w/ his offerings of veggies or jealous of his brother

                         whom he felt God loved more?

5

Beowulf (short sayings)

fight between Grendal & Beowulf / constant focalizing shifts

to maximize drama like an early film

            meanwhile . . .

at that awards banquet

Beowulf sits himself down between Hrothgar’s sons

Hrothgar starts calling Beowulf Sun / his Sun

& Beowulf perceives receiving many many futures of gifts

& Weltheow looking on asks Beowulf to please

support her boys if need be—& around his thick

neck she clasps a gold & emerald necklace / one fine one mind

found lost in battle / from one of Beowulf’s ancient kings’

lines so strong love all around until

Grendal’s angry mama appears after her monsterprice

& she takes at least one person one of Hrothgar’s good

no name meading buddies & Beowulf says

no good / it’s better to avenge death in this case

for fate often saves the undoomed man if his courage is good

so we’ll fight & let our lord god decide

Beowulf sez to Hrothgar / watch over mis güeyes here

if I die . . . well . . . chingao  & he turns . . . & to Unferth he gives his old sword

to use in battle / sword forged by giants folks sey

but let us recall that monsters can’t get to Beowulf bc of his mail

            his grandfather’s mail

so Beowulf goes ahead & seizes a giant sword from the wall / cuts

Grendal’s mama in two then another third / then finishes

off Grendal cutting off his head & as he does so

              this sword melts to its hilt

6

on shore the folk see hot blood bubbling

at sea surface

©

       ©  

              ©

       ©                 ©©©

              ©          ©                 ©

                                    ©

       ©  

              ©

       ©                 ©©©

              ©          ©                 ©

& lament for Beowulf Beuwolf is dead

O why not me O why not me?

     & Danes get set to leave but these Geats sey wait on & let’s just wait & see

7

four carry Grendal’s head on spears

throw head on meadhall floor

& Beowulf hands his sword’s hilt to Hrothgar

& Hrothgar pontificates his parting speech / to Beowulf he sez

you’d be a good king yes

& Beowulf please do send yr kids by when they’re older

don’t you be a stranger

leaders like us can offer one another sound protection & rewards

when others offer us their allegiance & we split profits

     think it over my burning Sun

8

     a new entity—a birthday cake

     & not some other kind of cake

9

equal opportunity structured unequally in Bardic societies bc competition inherently creates strategies for undermining equality

regarded as an exception

strengths for his literary prestiges

hundreds of readers

envy envy

all this world & some hate him

for his outbursts & anger

& how his features for himself

& his mainstream characters

& his beaconhood of literary mirrors

& his process begun in his earliest pomes

& his interesting reflections & much great prizes

10

B returns U’s sword

& basks in his own graces & curtsies

kindly cuz he cd have been snide

after all B wdn’t be one of those unthoughtful warriors

NOW Beowulf goes home

to Healot’s Hall / praise Danes /

gives his intelligence report

gives his report on Hrothgar’s daughter

who’s engaged for diplomatic purposes they sey

w/ Hethobards—“nay” sez Beowulf

“it’ll never work . . . ” & he describes

why / & that princess as we all know

wd take her bodyguards w/ her

& Hethobards will see guards w/ swift swords

& surely surely surely they’ll be something angry

no doubt

11

for Beowulf his king killed

so Beowulf becomes king

King Beowulf sees his kind king die in battle

so to protect his king’s boy / this dead king’s son / B swims home

carries the armor of like a dozen warriors

& when he charges up to this castle

fully erect his queen sez be w/ me Beowulf

be my rey

                        what else cd Beowulf sey?

he sez “nay madame / not if yr boy’s still

alive” but that son dies so Beowulf becomes

KING BEOWULF & rules in peace for fifty years

12

sewn swirled together like can-do Celtic graphics

snaky winds around itself

13

            slave thrown out by master

discovers cave where there’s much

treasure guarded by some dragon                      & treasure does nothing if not circulating

            this foul dragon hoarding

gold & while sleeping this valorous

slave steals a cup & this certainly

wakes this dragon who proceeds

to devastating the countryside

& destroying Beowulf Hall

            & Beowulf keeping w/ that family

tradition decides to fight this dragon

14

makes a metal shield along w/ that slave who stole that cup

15

beginning of fights w/ dragon / leads men

Wiglaf calls them chickenshits / goes to help

Beowulf / Beowulf tries to stab dragon

w/ sword / useless / & that bastard

bites Beowulf on his neck