Un Techo Para Mi Pais

Mona covers her face when she laughs,

I presume, to hide her teeth

which reach out of her mouth

like hands on the walking dead.

Her thin frame is draped with scant clothing

and a child on each hip.

Her bun curls into the nape of her neck,

brown wisps flap about her cheeks.

We build her family a house

and not a very nice one, at that,

but nonetheless with windows

and walls and a solid floor.

She and her husband are younger than I.

Gaunt faces, deflated cherubs fallen

from the sky into this starved, trashed

forgotten villa, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires

where no one with breast implants or

a designer suit

will ever

see them.

Yacutinga Lodge

I followed a stray straw boy

north on a bus where he snored

all through Corrientes and Entre Rios.

His black and white striped shirt,

left geometric patterns on Atlantic

jungle blurred outside the window

and I marveled at the pallet

of all our true colors.

Solar panels sprout from his hands,

from his geometric core,

so the straw boy and his friends constructed

a panel plethora in the jungle.

I watched with Ana, the German grad

student, as the mathematicians

built metal castles in the mud.

On an early morning, the Guarani

steered us through a mostly clean

Iguassu river, and we picked up plastic milk bottles

and beer cans occasionally. They spoke

of an identity crisis among their people,

a loss of language and understanding of nature.

People drink powdered milk now,

says one of the Guarani,

The pretty pattern on the bottle attracts them

and technology says it's important

to get your calcium. I wonder if the plaid

metal of the solar panel

glistening hopefully in the sun

is really going to save us

or if we are fooling ourselves

into drinking powdered milk, too.

Casa Pasco

In the morning post-party

when sun warms sticky Malbec

splattered across couches where

Caro and Offrey debated politics,

I can't wait to get out and touch grass.

The noise of Saturday morning traffic,

much like Monday morning traffic,

is only somewhat blocked by the concrete

wall that surrounds the terrace.

The kitchen filled with beer bottles

and the sink filled with dishes

makes me anxious, and the coffee

percolates jittery on the smelly stove.

This is Casa Pasco, refuge for wayward

Europeans and a smattering of Americans

(norte y sur) smoking cigarettes

and barbecuing meat, preparing meals

laced with complacency, luring each other

with the pungency of cheese and gentle

waft of tomato sauce to stay, stay.

Riding Bikes

I got doored twice

wearing my cock-eyed helmet

y pedalando como una loca

en las calles porteñas.

I have been to Flores

and hasta el sur de Barracas

in leather boots

and linen pants.

Arrived 5 minutes early

for my 8AM class

on the war in Iraq

looking as if I, too,

were a soldier.

That city of narrow streetsOpções de postagem

with elegant French architecture dripping

into the cracked concrete.

Bike Extravaganza #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzWlUSwqI_E

Bike Extravaganza #2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKWBGPLRQz8

Bike Extravaganza #3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFVtiYC7Y94

Bike Extravaganza #4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX-JIHQ5-gE

Ileana

Siempre a la marcha

la payasa con raices.

Me habla de las madres

que tambien marchan

por la casa Rosa,

gritando para

la noche de los lapices

gritando para

los desaparecidos (presente)

gritando para

el derroto, por favor, de la

escuela de las americas

que sigue pulsando com un

ugly, American, wart.

Pero vos, mi Ileana,

nunca gritaste.

Sonreiste por todo

y compraste plantas para la casa

me invitó dibujar en las paredes

y jugabamos como niñas

que no conocen a Henry Kissinger.

SHARE conference

One broach

a hair bobble,

Flannel pants,

a fireworks dress with pockets

and a song from Lady Days gut.

English Professors with microphones

teaching English Professors with note-books.

I sweat under the lights, hope

enthusiasm and glasses

will convince them:

I am a good teacher.

I belong here.

First Half of the Share Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCK0V5lJVZU

Second Half of the Share Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md8If8sOK8U