xii

 

is it certain, what the taxi drivers say, that it could be dangerous there(?)

and, but we go to the old market, san roque, in the old sector, quito antiquo,

below the avenging angel on panecillo hill, where we descend & descend

far beyond the confident boundaries of the self

∙

xiii

 

            if this city thinks off white ..

            so dust grows from building sites

ash descends from occasional volcanos

fumes ascend from producers

exhaust rises from vehicles

chalk lifts from streets

and fog braids with smoke

of near mountain blazes

 

when jets lose their way to mariscal sucre airport

possibly they will set down at some sea green of parks

~

and that field there is in love with the morning

.. the green morning with its suspension

and the children who are green

and sensationally deferred in the morning

and the field

∙

xiv

 

            first week april

parque metropolitano

the metropolitan park,

.. fog of floating sheets

with impressions of trees

in it       with voices

of children, laughing horses,

and flutes in it

∙

xv

 

far miles away

the peak cotopaxi

pokes a hole in the sky

and smile strongly upon

carcelén, the district

 

a woman with a wheelbarrow

filled with sand is crossing the street

 

three men are carrying cinderblocks

up & down ladders of an undressed building

 

a man drops long filaments of rebar off a roof

while another picks up & drags it down the street ..

 

and the children are nearby satisfied with their plays of work

∙

xvi

 

i walk the avenues

october may june

            .. the drivers

in their vehicles

are flawless musicians

staccato technique

as is accented by

curses & car horns ..

a symphony though atonal

performing by the bright

of the noon

~

and

dear beautiful chauffer:

bus us thru speed limits

and thru needy red lights ..

it does not matter,

and surely we ought to hurry

in order to arrive on time

for those parts of our lives

that are as yet so undetermined

∙

xvii

 

en quito

si o no(?)

 

it is ok for men to pee in the street

if their backs are turned

 

bifocals allow you

at once two views

 

the street dogs will not attack you

if you walk beyond their territory

 

under some conditions may

2 + 2 = 5

 

the markets in old town in the day are

less dangerous than my street at night

 

a personal god is cirucular with a center everywhere

and a circumference no where

 

the negative ions in the here high streets

are not negative for us

 

light is a particle

and is a wave

 

there is no considerable change here

from spring to summer or fall

 

love is a particle

and is a wave

 

the first world must proceed from the second

and the second from the third world

 

the highs will be around 25°c & lows about 8°c

and rain is likely in the forecast & the following next year

 

my landlady makes $0.83 an hour

teaching english

 

this city has a mind

that is suspicious of itself

 

the sky above is constructed

of sheer fluids & blue crystals

 

only unexpectedly can one find the part

of the place in the park where bells live

 

the bus to the middle of the world

costs $0.35 cents

 

no no, no no, yes

means maybe

∙

xviii

 

            in the dream ..

fear appears as a man

that you used to know

 

the man is waiting for

your contempt & for you

to tell him to go away

~

            dear thick dreamer:

there are fresh messages waiting

but you have to retrieve them

when it darks & after you are peaceful

~

then a night with courageous dreaming ..

the melodic sounds of galloping repeat

and the words caballo caballo caballo repeat

inside the brown muscles of your mind

∙

xix

 

you are worthy in & of yourself

though you try to refute it

 

or today you wear mists & eucalyptus ..

you smell of contrition

 

and so I want you for a gift

afternoon or after vespers

though probably the former

and as well to know the all of you

under the most transparent conditions

∙

xx

 

is it dark(?) or the other ..

that moment in between day & dark

 

before the street lights light

 

the sky prepares to sleep in its bed of plums

 

the players move to the edge of the park

 

there is domestic desire among some

but the popular buses have strayed

 

there are beneficent beings in dark clothes

            among us who are prophetic

 

tengo dos dólares cincuenta, una llave vieja, una cinta,

            una carta extrajera y una poema blanca

            en el bolsillo de la camisa

 

(or) I have two fifty, an old key, a ribbon, a foreign card

            and a white poem in my shirt pocket

 

also the blind man walks as comfortably as us

 

those in love levitate freely, think freely,

            and articulate without constraits

 

bakeries empty & then restaurants fill

 

and my shadow turns to bear witness

∙

xxi

 

                        this lyric between the familiar & the new –

                        or between risk & safety ..

                        quito is the risk but I have protection ..

 

the landlady has a dog to warn of robbers & a cat to warn of mice

an iron gate on the door & pretty bars in the inside of windows

.. a friend suggest fresh flowers in the kitchen

or another advises me to burn white sage

and too, there is my fallen angel

who enjoys to follow me

~

it is the verb of evening

and the moon has fallen among

the tallest trees ..

 

i follow myself into the body of the city

or is it(?), my angel & i following me

into the dark arteries of quito

++++++++++++++++++++++++

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