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Rodrigo Toscano
ENGLISH
Inauguration
a reto-moog organ wigs-n-things ambience
as if it’s like how it’s like!
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the “atmo” not feral nor distantly savage
but domestic intimate
Super-Trans-Civilizing
hairpiece
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here here they trot about over there
the votes
over there they trot about over here
the boots
ciao! ciao to the wig!
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let’s let’s sidle let’s sidle on let’s idle on up
let’s kneel down
before the confusion
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from barrack to barrack looking for the prisoner
hyper-elastic from so much torture
hyper-absent from so much censure
he falls on his knees
slap me if he isn’t falling
like the statue commemorative jackboot 2005
falls vertically into its pit
boom
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poesy has also slammed itself into its cell —boom
supposedly, we say…
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on the floor medieval style gray stone moss surface green
let us kneel
effect after effect ‘survivors’
vocabularified
(focus on what comes next knuckleheads)
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petro-boy petro-girl petro-sexualizations
__ petro-instant petro-enthusiasm petro-disillusion
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petro-petrified (“hola, para dejar mensaje…”)
petro-pedal-to-the-metal
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done! petro-postulation (philosophical)
done! petro-don’t-air-the-laundry-sirs
wipe clean your mouths
disgusting inaugural
l i t e r a r y
King & Queen
New York, January 20, 2005
Trans. R. Toscano Improvised Poetic Device (IPD)
The ribcage wrapped —as per usual— in muscle, skin
The head mounted —as per usual— on the trunk
The eyes tautly tied —as per usual— to the skull
The little ones prance gazelles are the way they are
Dates in the heat —as per usual— are sweet, pungent
Days at their end (such are days are welcomed) bring on the night
The long night —as per usual— can be terrifying
You could patch in very punchy, very gnarly appropriately first-world-wealthy stuff anywhere you damn well please
The thighs are elegantly and complexly tied to the hips
The hips —as per usual— buttress the spine
The hips at times expand to twice their width
Old men given time, given space play chess
Mud bricks, well-made —as per usual— absorb the hot sun
The spines of middle-aged women leopards are the way they are
You could cut-out very savvy, very quippy appropriately first-world-snarky stuff anytime you damn well please
The ears —as per usual— come in twos
The nose sits at the top of the mouth co-coordinative
The mind is —as per usual— in dispute
The ass is like hands dependant & rebellious
You could sync in very sexy, very tarty appropriately first-world-prickly stuff anyhow you damn well please
The ubiquitous cotton plaid shirt —as per usual— is sewn by young girls
Cialis, Viagra, Propecia are smuggled goods for the porker class (there)
The porker class (here) is about to reward you —as per usual—
The ubiquitous singular ass with a beef is what’s for dinner
Here’s an IPD for you Here’s an IPD for you Here’s an IPD for you
Truax Inimical
a trans-american poem for four voices
part 3.
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(1) Life is pulse really (3) And there’s compression (2) And there’s decompression (4) Panoramic but seen from within
(1) A tetrahedron from all sides (4) Complex (2) Beautiful (3) Many-sided
(4) We once revered flat surfaces (1) ¡No mas!(3) We once pronounced chance king (2) ¡No mas!
(1) How’s it that we’re four distinct entities here? (4) How’s it that we’re singular and one-at-a-time? (2) How’s it that we’re each one-quarter of one whole? (3) How’s it that we’re each four times more than the other?
(4) Life is bluster too! (1) Movimiento Al Socialismo(3) Highlight it (2) Copy it
(1-4) HOLD YOUR SCHEISSECOUSIN!
TOES OFF THE KEYBOARD!
(3) How did a chunk of charcoal become a gem? (4) By compression—I told you—life is bluster too (2) Flies would have it otherwise (1) Where do I sign?
(3) Evo Morales must manifest—not just paste it “Full Nationalization of Gas Deposits” (1) Life is a constituent assembly in the making (4) Life is a coca leaf for the taking (2) Flies would have it otherwise (3) Moviemiento a la poesia translinguistica(1) Where do I sign? (2) Moviemiento a la poesia multimetricalista(4) Where do I sign? (1) We once coveted interiorities of bohemian moms and pops (2) No mo’! (4) We once sported vertical-striped acrylic death-of-the-I sweaters—and twill pants (3) No mo’!
(1) Sign here (4) And here (2) And here (3) And here
(1) And here (4) And here (2) And here (3) And here
(2) When does a line of verse become a chant? (1) Damn I hate speech! (4) I hate text (3) I hate both your asses
(2) And here (4) Have I told you about how a site-specific approach might have been a more efficient— (1) ¡Moviemiento Al Compacto Transregional!(3) You did—and rather inefficiently
(2) How does a baby become a corpse? (1) By too much autonomy (“don’t tread on me”) (3) By not enough autonomy (volonté genéral) (4) Damn I hate fudging the fundamental difference between Locke and Rousseau(1) How’s it that we’re four distinct entities here? (4) How’s it that we’re singular and one-at-a-time? (2) How’s it that we’re each one-quarter of one whole? (3) How’s it that we’re each four times more than the other?
(1) Warm breeze from the south pole Flows towards the north pole Bends vernal pool grasses Gently layering These cold Words Bending
(3) Toes on the keyboard cousin—hit me.
(1) Fresh milk from the sow cow Flows towards the kick bucket Gladdens a gentle heart Gently quenching These parched Words Suckling
(2) Manifesting new trade pacts—based on social needs—say—between—Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba—possibly Ecuador and Peru—and of course, now—Bolivia…can be a bulwark against constraint-as-chance—World Bank—regional—poetics
(4) A tetrahedron from all sides (2) Complex (3) Beautiful (1) Many-sided
(3) I found another penny on 14th street in Manhattan, tucked halfway between the chained door of a kiosk and the cold January pavement—early morning, and it looked pretty schmutzy this penny, and it was—yuk, but as it is my habit (ok, psychology), not to abandon congealed labor, and what’s more—the ritual is to rub it to make out the date—and I always compare that date to another date, and think…how did I get here
(1) Life is pulse really (3) And there’s compression (2) And there’s decompression (4) Panoramic but seen from within
(3) Bechtel—in Bolivia, tried (but failed) to make collecting rainwater illegal (4) Life is bluster on the move—for sure (2) ¡Movimiento a la construcción de bombas poeticas efectivas para explotar la dirección general de Bechtel! (1) Where do I sign up for a Spanish class?
(4) What did Bolívar think about Toussaint thinking about Robespierre? (3) What did Robespierre think about Toussaint thinking about Rousseau? (2) What did Frederick Douglas think about Toussaint thinking about Thomas Paine? (1) On the senate floor, why did Senator Preston Brooks from the Palmetto State almost cane to death senator Charles Sumner from the Bay State—May 22, 1856?
(2) We once were intimidated by the words “vagrant” “fugitive” “illegal” (3) We once were cowed by legalistic national literatures and/or positivist frameworks for spontaneous cultural expression (1) We once were ashamed to declare complete independence from the three chunks of charcoal known as Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. (4) We once were too timid to proclaim a more translucent gem
(3) Another penny I spotted on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, but on close inspection it was a one-cent euro (which can’t buy you a sprig of Bulgarian rosemary) but there it was tucked underneath a Polish nanny’s white boot—goodness—my time’s certainly got to be more valuable than the 10 minute wait to retrieve it, but, as it is my praxis (ok, neurosis), not to abandon congealed labor, I poised myself for the moment—swooped in, snatched it, rubbed it...compared the date to another date…and thought…where the hell am I going
(1) Trapped steam from the collection chamber Shoots towards the escape valve Sparks methane gasses Rapidly setting These copper-nickel Turbines A-turnin!
(2) Eyes on the energy exchange agreements cousins—¡ahoowa!
(4) Busybodies from the Peripheral Poetic Zone Bore into the Central Poetic Zone Flies, crickets, roaches Steadily creeping Towards these acid Realities Settling
(3) Heroically? To casts one’s lot—again—with culture? (1) Candelabra of exchange values, twitching hominoids glittering (I mean…overhead) (2) Life is manure, in’ it? (4) And crop
(1) Ruefully, as I will’ve slammed the door—on it Though the door is missing And that’s hot lead on the dragonfly’s eyes
(2) Determinatively, as I might’ve made the door—myself But the materials are missing And the know-how lacking
(3) Ironically, as I’m directing—conceptually—the idea of a door Not driving a single nail myselfWho’s listening anyway?
(4) Stoically, to casts one’s lot—once more—with culture? Culture—it’s listening? (I’m not)
(1) The sound of a door…closing…where’s that sound of a door closing dammit!
(3) The shorts were $7.99 upon asking, so I gave her $8.00, and she said thank you with a finality that horrified my world-historical mission (ok, tick) not to “abandon congealed labor”, and so I said (meekly) “I’m sorry, but it’s for my—collection”…when instantly the price shot up to ten dollars—and zero cents; but after a protracted (and of course, dialectical) struggle, I managed to seize a $9.00—and one cent—poetic—pair of shorts
(1) Where do I sign up? (2) What are you out of your freakin’ mind!? (3) ¡Moviemiento a la poesia trangresista materialista! (4) Flies even—have it otherwise
(1) Sign here (4) And here (2) And here (3) And here
(4) We once were titillated by the phrases “free trade” “inhibition release” “attach ye not to the material things of this world” (2) We once were titty-twizzled by delicious descriptions of perennially open-ended poetics and/or border crossing aesthetics sans actual bodies moving freely (3) We once were too bashful to conceive and design and construct a tetrahedron from the conception of the translucent gem henceforward to be known as ESMERALDA (1) We once were too repressed to take a nude collective bubble bath with ESMERALDA
(2) And here… (1) What about here? (3) And there (4) Now—submit that to the assembly
(1) Me—as only me? (4) Sort of(2) Me—as only me? (3) Kind of
(4) Me—as only me? (1) Maybe(3) Me—as only me? (2) Close enough
(1) How’s it that we’re four hundred million distinct entities here? (4) How’s it that we’re singular and one-at-a-time? (2) How’s it that we’re each one four hundred millionth of one whole? (3) How’s it that we’re each four hundred million times more than the other?
(2) Blake—advised Paine—to jet to France (3) Robespierre—gave the nod—to Toussaint (1) Douglas—became ambassador—to Haiti (4) Du Bois—kicked a high volley—to Hughes—striker extraordinaire
(3) Paine conceived of a sort of social security (1) Toussaint of a kind of nation-state (4) Douglas suggested maybe a new constitution (2) Hughes was close enough to the mass-popular approach to poetics as practiced by the Cuban Nicolás Guillén to be considered master conceptualist of—
(1-4) ESMERALDA
(4) When the jailer went to every cell marking with chalk the doors of the ones to be guillotined that morning, Paine’s door was open as a doctor had been visiting, and somehow in the confusion, his door got marked on the inside, so that it later appeared to be closed
(3) The sound of a door…swinging…open…where’s that sound…of a door…swinging…open…coming from?
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Rodrigo Toscano, 1964
Born in San Diego, California of Mexican parents, Toscano grew up speaking both English and Spanish (he currently writes and publishes in both languages.) In the 1980’s he wandered the southwest making a living as a truck driver and warehouse worker. Upon returning to the California Borderlands, he worked at several computer factories, where he subsequently became in involved in the trade union movement. During that period he also moonlighted as an avant garde poet in-the-making. His poetic works began to be recognized in the 1990’s, being associated with the “post-language” poets of his generation. The period saw the publication of his first four major works, Partisans (1999), The Disparities (2002), Platform (2003), and To Leveling Swerve (2004). In 2005 he launched the concept and practice of the Collapsible Poetics Theater (CPT), for which he is the artistic director and principal writer. His poetic works have been translated into Italian, German, and French. U.S. poet Bob Perelman has said “…sincere and sarcastic historian, Toscano contorts his poetic inheritance from the pre-Socratics to recent innovators, using rhythmic outreach, frontal and sly, to produce a danceable inventory of the present’s equivocations and aliases. His writing is exciting, funny, encouraging, and perspicacious without any hint of premature congratulation.” Toscano currently lives in New York City where he works at the Labor Institute. Rodrigo Toscano is the author of To Leveling Swerve, Platform, The Disparities, Partisans, and Collapsible Poetics Theater. His work has appeared in Best American Poetry (2004), War and Peace (2004 & 2007), and In the Criminal's Cabinet: An anthology of poetry and fiction (2004). In 2005, he was the recipient of a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. Toscano is also the artistic coordinator of the Collapsible Poetics Theater. His experimental poetics play and polyvocalic pieces have been performed at the Disney Redcat Theater in Los Angeles, St. Mark’s Poetry Project, New Langton Arts Space (San Francisco), Vancouver, Canada, Teubingen, Germany, the Poet’s Theater Jamboree at the California Center for the Arts (San Francisco), and most recently at the Yockadot Poetics Theater Festival in Alexandria, Virginia. His writing has been translated into French, German, and Italian. Toscano is originally from the Borderlands of California. He lives in Brooklyn, and works in Manhattan at the Labor Institute.
INAGURACIÓN
atmosférica órgano retro-moog pelucas
¡como si fuera lo que fuera!
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el “atmo” no feral ni lejanamente salvaje
sino doméstico íntimo
Super-Trans-Civilizador
peluca
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aquí aquí andan por alla
los votos
y allá andan por acá
las botas
¡ciao a la peluca! ¡ciao!
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arri…nómonos… arri…nénomos… arri…mónomos…
arri- mé- mo- nos
hinquémonos
a la confusíón
de cuartel a cuartel buscando el prisionero
hiper-elástico de tanta tortura
hiper-ausente de tanta censura
se cae de rodillas
(me cae que se cae)
como la estatua aniversario año facha 2005
se cae verticalmente en su pozo
tras
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la poesía se ha encerrado en su jaula también —¡tras!
o se supone que
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en suelo estilo edad media roca gris superficie verde moho
hinquémonos
efecto tras efecto sobrevivientes
vocabularificados
(fíjense burros en lo que sigue)
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petro-varón petro-hembra petrosexualizacíones
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petroinstante petroentusiasmo petrodesilusión
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peto-petrificado (“hi, you’ve reached…)
petro-arranque
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¡hecho! petro-postulacíon (filosófica)
¡hecho! petro-no-enseñen-el-cobre-señores
límpiense la trompa
desgraciados inaugurados
King & Queen
l i t e r a r i o s
Nueva York, Enero, 2004INFRA-REALISTICAMENTE
Hablando del puk puk puk puk puk al despertar café con miel.
Algo Centro Pompidou la mente, clara, transparente, verde, sobre desplagada.
Palabras, peatónes, estos, aquí, plantados
—puk.
Verso-columpio-plástico-rojo-chillante
T r a n q u i l o s
Hablando del siglo afuera (joué) en forma, tambaleando, sea usted polaco, equatoriano, intra- o trans- caribeño
descolumpiado.
Puma de plomo, corte exacto de tuxedo, valse—escuadrón—volante el tío se entretiene en tacónes serios.
Hablando de objetos, sujetos, críticas, meta-críticas inter-textua-casualidades.
Guadalquivir se llama el río donde un antepasado (“con dudas”) se persigno por última vez
desencabezado.
puk puksapo brinca por la orilla de la colectiva y el serio (entaconado) se auto-educa en nacionalismos latentes… con fondos…
—llueve el vino se ve la sierra—
Pero primero el café con miel y leche de soya mega-ranchos brasileiros trans- meta- lo-que-son —puk.
R e l a c i o n a m i e n to
Hablando del ser Gran Americano (codigo: “esmeralda”) de Punta Arenas, Chile a Point Barrow, Alaska
—entréis.
A l i v i e n s e
Hablando de contextos greñudos tigre de madera—sin rayas, aves amarillas con ojotes azules
—no fregéis.
Títulos alternativos del dicho poema:
“Bravo del Norte” “Follow the Ass” “Discreción Monetarista” “Molestos Compromisos Modernistas” “Brutal Edits (and other harmless joys)”
Hablando del frijól, del maíz, de la memoria virtual de lo “comunitario” fincas multinacionales frentes culturales cabeza recompuesta con esfuerzo británico (clásico) “¿cómo le va?” “bien bien” —puk.
Portafolio: alpha-sequestros, beta-rescates si-bi-lan-te-men-te “gente”
De s u b l i m i n a c i o n a l i s t i c a m e n t e
delta…
(“¿delta qué?”)
puto armado
teniendo que botar puta armada
teniendo que botar puto armado
teniendo que botar puta armada
teniendo que
habiendo
habiendo
aire
columpio vacío
sierras ennibladas moradas valorosas
foros sobre foros hasta la forictoria final
sea usted callejero o neo-aristócrata ratero
Al rato llamaremos al ramaje revuelto en tierra reemplazada
¡Qué madrugada!
En mi meta-vida jamás he visto algo mas meta-bello
mas infra-real
Nueva York, Abril, 2006
MOMENTO DE PLATINO
Discutiendo lo discutible, lo discutible directa su discusión a lo indiscutible.
Lo indiscutible se esconde en la charla del día para aparecer—discutible.
Esta conversación <guión> gran búsqueda <guión> alegata clásica <guión> burbujeo en una esquina de la galaxia, lo deja a uno (vergonzosamente) “interesado.”
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Nos va dar entender este autor que le interesa: luchas ideológicas terrestiales, métodos no genéricos de comunicación, lecturas de poesía, gente extraña sin razón alguna de estar maullando en pleno día, y el misterio del silencio ensordecedor circundante.
“No hay que reinventar la rueda ya rodano,” nos exige el autor, “ni hay que acuchillar un lápiz filosófico en la manzana de la historia pudriéndose…hay—existen instantes—donde la poseía se sobre estima al momento exacto que se ha rendido.”
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Ahora le pedimos al poema (transmitiendo en vivo) que salga de atras de su cortina.
Salga, por favor.
¡TARÁ!
“Gracias, bienvenidos. Disfruten o rechacen este momento—me da igual. Atrapas de los siglos no me he callado el locico por nadie. Notenlo. Gracias.
Los dejo con dos versos (incluso prosaicos):
La espera de energías alternativas, sostenibles—ha terminado.
La espera de explicaciones de modos de comunicación entre extraterrestres —sigue y sigue.
Discutanlo. Poeticen. Maúllen.”
Nueva York, Mayo, 2006
¡FELIZ POST-NATIVIVAD!
“Espero salir” dice el atrapado en un tubo 1, 000 metros enterrado en la tierra
“Espero unir” dice el desgarrado entre dos familias 1, 000 gestos, muecas, y payasadas vaporizadas por necesidad
“Espero joder” dice el poeta entre dos pueblos 1, 000 gestos, muecas, y diplomacias guisadas en casa
“Espero desnudar…” dice el desesperado “lo cultural” 1, 000 metros sobre la tierra geo-confundiendo lo geo-confundible
“Espero disimular” dice el bizcuernudo 1, 000 veces mas ensayado que el punto cero cero uno improvisado, acumulando —cuerno
“Espero convencer” dice el esforzado 1, 000 vueltas, arranques, paradas desimanando autoridad bastantitamente limitada
Nueva York, Junio, 2006
Rodrigo Toscano (EEUU, 1964, de padres mexicanos). Crece en San Diego, California. De 1995-1999 vive en San Francisco. Desde 2000 vive principalmente en Nueva York, donde trabaja en el Labor Institute, donde asiste en el desarrollo de talleres educativos para trabajores sobre del medio ambiente. Surgido con la generación de los años 90. Ha publicado los siguientes libros de poesía: Partisans (O Books, 1999), The Disparities (Green Integer. 2002), Platform (Atelos Press, 2003), y To Leveling Swerve (Krupskaya, 2004). Ha sido incluido en las antologías: Best American Poetry (Scribner’s 2004), War and Peace (2004), and In the Criminal's Cabinet: An anthology of poetry and fiction (2004), y Junta, anthology of experimental latino writing in the U.S (2008). Fue coordinador de poesía por la conferencia “The Social Mark” (Philadephia, 2004), y participante en “Poetry & Empire, Post-Invasion Poetics” (University of Pennsylvania), “Societies of American Poetry, Dissenting Practices” (Georgetown University), “Authorship and the Turn to Language” (University of Teubingen, Alemania), “Diasporic Avant-Gardes: Experimental Poetics and Cultural Displacement” (University of California, Irvine). Sus trabajos poéticos han aparecido en publicaciones especializadas de Alemania, Canadá, Noruega, España, y Francia. Toscano también es autor y coordinador artístico del Collapsible Poetics Theater. Sus obras han sido presentadas en el Disney Redcat Theater en Los Ángeles, St. Mark’s Poetry Project (Nueva York), New Langton Arts Space (San Francisco), Vancouver (Canadá) Teubingen (Alemania) en “Poet’s Theater Jamboree 2007” en California Center for the Arts, y en el festival “Yockadot Poetics Theater Festival” en Alexandria, Virginia. Seleccíones de sus poemas en español han aparecido (o van ha aparecer) en Mandorla (EEUU / México) y Nerter (España).
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