WORK SONG:  WHAT YOU ENCOUNTER IN A DAY’S WORK

Dr. Williams is sitting in

my waiting room—

Again the treatment rooms are

full with the din

of back-pain those

who also gasp with asthma

An elderly woman brings as payment a large papaya

from her backyard

I cannot wait to ask

Dr. Williams—

Is this why your poems short and skinny

crowding two lifetimes into one

have the pulse of a spring river?

We are in the treatment room

His heart has two beats but he

is happy

about this

I ask to see his tongue

I ask him if to know the breath whereby

understand the word

I ask about his English father

his Puerto Rican mother

Hell’s Kitchen

how language was often dissonant

I ask him if

we can speak like

América

THE BODY AT THE END OF INEFFABLE

The wind tattered the tabernacle of palm fronds

The market was swept by the broom of death

and the crown bounced down

an empty road like forgotten weeds

and the landlord handed his last slipper

and lost the name of the mother of death

After the altar was sheltered 

After the altar was set

and they said I was the altar

I knew it would follow me

in spite of my helpless memory

& that I’d always search for something rhythmic

something holy & red 

My palms cupped like hearts ready

to strike at love

Fingers like claws ready to write on the Earth

Open the Earth to something holy:

a name not spelled backwards

not derivative of a nightmare

but simple that spells search

seed

summer

spring

fall

an altar they said was the mother of death

Adrian Castro is a poet, essayist, and interdisciplinary artist. Born in Miami from Caribbean heritage which has provided fertile ground for the rhythmic Afro-Caribbean style in which he writes and performs. He is the author of Cantos to Blood & Honey (Coffee House Press), Wise Fish (Coffee House Press), Handling Destiny (Coffee House Press). He is the recipient of many grants and fellowships including USA/Knight Fellowship, CINTAS Fellowship, and others. Adrian Castro is also Doctor of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine.