"DRUM AND WHISTLE" AND "BLACK STEMS," TWO POEMS FROM _LUCA: DISCOURSE ON LIFE & DEATH_ by ROCHELLE OWENS Dept. of English University of Oklahoma at Norman _Postmodern Culture_ v.2 n.3 (May, 1992) Copyright (c) 1992 by Rochelle Owens, all rights reserved. This text may be freely shared among individuals, but it may not be republished in any medium without express written consent from the author and advance notification of the editors. DRUM AND WHISTLE into the vast heat of spirals because your whitish bones beating drum and whistle morning sun multiplying her fingers loosened her braids her long slow searching encased skull neck body skull neck body around roots yellow skin floating like props looking I heard crows their claws searching their veins and tendons scattered as leaves sweeten clay silt ash your long gray hands cutting measuring skull scalp parchment her forearm tightens spreads over blankets infected with plague seeding spirals of heat loosens her braids black urine runs through silt ash clay shadowed on the walls spilling walls spilling sand and gravel a lira here a lira there sutured through her ruptured flesh tightens cords in Leo n a rdo's fingers elbow shoulder hip And in heel of cadavre smoke invades one for squirrel one for crow And if you shake leaves feverish master skin paint surgical scar riddled bright-red stems freezing paint freezing urine blood segmented cell segmented cell by cell prototypes saturated he then looked at a circular looked at a circular house walls sand gravel beating drum and whistle deep-pink plague as autumn winter rubs black clay silence walls in remorseless then she looked at a circular house when you looked your veins multiplying splashes black urine they stare down on horseback pursing their lips measuring ransacking fingers crusted fibrous entrails invades cadavre aluminum walls in your neck to side you read parts of the manuscript wrong suppose she reveals peculiar forms them vivifying cording everyday ash and blood whole aluminum pits groups of the first Spaniards in America On a second voyage to Guatemala moves hydrogen helium Lenny's blanket wrapped around parts of the dissection suppose red wild corn smoke from a burning log the wiry brat ejaculates every foot-print of Flora multiplying your long gray hands stretched your gray hands stretched deer skin Mona made rings gloves crowns masks the outlines of a new country Leo n a rdo seized the wrist of the brat squeezed his throat blood behind his teeth placed the infected blankets one by one stomach and bones crusted for here leave sign of our fate then he looked at a circular house an old Osage woman crushing seeds her iron-gray braids she gouged clay quickly she pulls from fire her saliva pools behind her teeth she pulls from fire a pot spilling morsels of beef half-kneeling Salia's mouth measures walls then quickly he will fill canvas image of a paysanne flinging a paysanne flinging kernels unwinding her smock crows their claws dark-green stained windows of a stained windows of a cathedral exposed a new country lip-synced Sigmund you wrap a blanket around your waist folds and gathers cross and recross stakes with forked ends into ground deep-pink crust ash spirals of heat I arch my back stretching it is a paysanne bending gracile her brow diagonal lines skull neck you traced a scaffold a forked tree and close upon one of the horses tendons & muscles glowing I saw Salia beating drum and whistle your palms crushing seeds showing lines cross recross circular pulse groups moist soil of names Quicxic bloody wing Quicrixcac bloody claw faults she gouged clay I murmured into Lenny's ear groups of the first Spaniards in America written on the stomach and bones fragment shovels gravel sand clay my doubt remains widening circles circles slowly Leo n a rdo fingers he rouges his nipples the brat stares down from a scaffold arches his back stretches his neck riders cutting out entrails their lips intone pulsate behind ice walls gouged with names crossed recrossed tribes on horseback winding her iron-gray braids quickly she fills canvas stretching roots disgorges ancient corn plants extracting one light amber stone idol when gravel sand blown on wind walls in flames of stone divided roots a black rain fell then silence and slow soaking crust ash flames swerving deep-pink plague a forked tree slicing their flesh resin sap sweetens moonlit vines Sigmund mused fascinated the Lords of Xibalba horse and rider in darkness searching Guatemala still plastic tubes glistening stared down in the Aztec inferno in the evening light worshiped sticks worshiped sticks of fat pine I made rings gloves crowns masks riddled with decay digging out a stone leaving a stone one for the cutworm one for the crow lips whisper counting blankets infected counting blankets infected with plague one by one They planted four acres wandering east to west from center smoke concentrated stems burnt leaf white hearts of incense palms arched pierced bleed names Quicxic bloody aluminum faults behind ice walls density of scalp crusted bark a forked tree shadowed upside down stems of moonlit vines you mused resin sap as leaves sweeten clay moss of Florida through which blood jets behind their teeth saliva red wild corn multiplying ancient writing gouged in gouged in the gourd seized a little man Mona stares down following diagonal lines surgical scar trusts her fibrous skins dressing and stretching measuring skull scalp parchment her feast day dark ridge of lava to north parched halves of skulls placed one by one one for the squirrel one for the crow groups of the first Spaniards in America they stare down on horseback ride up close looking at fragments slowly they circle you urge horse and rider course toward in this course toward in this direction tribes crossed recrossed gouged signs from armpit to stomach your pale stomach your pale & gasping son loosens his braids his throat pulsates saliva pools behind his teeth scrotal sac slit groups of the first Spaniards in America carcass stripped of its skin bearing two halves there a scalp two halves there a scalp sutured crossed behind when they found ancient corn plants she will fill canvas ash autumn winter discharging pus from slit ears your doubt remains for all that you stretch your neck instinctively Mona's attention drawn to reddish layers glowing mudstone and sandstone shovels gravel sand clay clutches bright-red stems tightens around roots woven veins drew silence pale forests stretched the canvas exposed ancient corn plants shadowed upside down rifles against the walls horse and rider around the fire black urine soaking clay sand as he loosens his braids fingers dig one for the squirrel one for the crow crusted torn trees crash sounds sounds of riders cleaning rifles once Salia took an axe cut moonlit vines saw bright-red surgical scar through which blood infected with plague the trunk of the body engulfed by the serpent two halves of the cadavre slowly such great decay Salia covered his head with Mona's smock child & Mona perched on Lenny's back you stare down pursing your lips your neck to the side plagued by doubt calculating strips of wood right to left the weight of the corpse one for the cutworm and the night air blazes down her jaw fused soil grass animal outlines muscles slowly she reverses one for the crow changed nature of portrait strips calculated left to right weight of corpse one for cutworm down her jaw slowly reverses cunningly plagued by doubt his fallen figure stained with blood of first person ransacked cunningly you urinate spontaneously while Flora flinging while Flora flinging kernels loosens her braids her smock unwinding murmured into Salia's ear Luca Luca I mesmerize intoned snake winding covered their heads with blankets black horns curve out sand mud blue haze through woodland a forked tree you ride up close squeezing a staff a staff with a skull splashes black urine Ahalpuh he who makes pus then hip shoulder elbow and in heel of cadavre stomach stomach and bones stretched out he stares down on horseback pursing their lips measuring strips of soil strips soil riddled invades bright bright red stems circles slowly calculating strips walls in aluminum analyzing death patterns blood segmented cell by cell deep-pink plague slicing bright-red stems their neck stretching left to right their lips measuring ransacking measuring ransacking entrails glistening ash crust soaking one for the cutworm one for the crow dissected correctly counting plastic plastic tubes filling plastic tubes glowing in sunlight you angled your face analyzing death patterns one light amber stone red wild corn dark ridge gouged gouged configurations ripped two halves two halves of parchment multiplying death patterns you put slashes in through which water through which water runs spreads over America through silt ash silt clay death patterns plague crossed I heard crows their claws searching riddled bright red stems one gouged exposed your whitish bones exhausted outlines gravel sand skull neck your wrists arch backwards crushing backwards crushing seeds she wraps a blanket through which blood slowly such great decay she stares down plagued by doubt pus from slit ears horse and rider in darkness tubes counted one for squirrel one for crow entrails walls freezing paint stained circles on the stomach and bones you ride up close begin searching my painting two halves cut into side deep-pink crust heat from a burning log internal and external burns glowing in sunlight burns glowing in sunlight widening a pair of jaws long slow counting teeth burnt in fire knife in one hand a blanket in the other one hand a blanket in the other gray hands stretched measured bones up close ends cleaved deep-pink marrow exposed sections you analyze the assemblage death patterns outlines of a new country then Mona looked at a circular house under the trees she fasted scattered cremains scattered cremains in the morning sun ash blood black clay glowing in sunlight death patterns floating like props backwards one by one upside down image of a whipped and crucified woman her saliva pools behind her teeth then an old Osage woman crushing seeds her palms shadowed Quicxic bloody wind Quicrixcac bloody claw notched stick end lower three long strokes strokes from end to end Flora waves her arm offering yellows from plants from the stick toward toward the sun her image crossed lines paint congeals you ride up close after each stroke upper torso shadowed skull neck body Salia details holes in the hands and feet north of the fire peculiar forms red stems splitting Leo n a rdo makes a circular mark passing his hands measuring skull scalp parchment Spaniards wearing braided silk belts ropes used to pull the head and torso elbows knees necks alternating floating like props looking she heard crows their claws searching image of a whipped and crucified woman her iron-gray braids hanging end to end toward the sun following crossed lines of paint lines cross recross the center freezing hard roots no sound no sound of hoof-beats you ride up close searching when you looked the heel of the cadavre segmented cell by cell encased roots upper torso of the little man multiplying seethed and probed palms arch resin sap jets saturates behind walls Salia's sketch of smoke lines cross recross tendons veins clutches bright red stems measuring two halves of a circular house sides of aluminum walls you stare down on horseback you suppose she reveals peculiar forms groups of forms groups of the first Spaniards in America Leo n a rdo paints child & Mona as leaves sweeten lip-synced Sigmund Quicrixcac bloody claw Quicxic bloody bloody wind no sound no sound scattered cremains in the morning sun crossed lines of paint circles congeals image of a whipped and crucified woman her iron-gray braids hanging ----------------------------------------------------------- BLACK STEMS scattered cremains through a woodland near a forked near a forked tree patterns seeding and yellow blossoms hydrogen green You scattered delicate blossoms my forearm tightens spreads over right to left red stems counted one for crow one for cutworm the first skull showing lines crossed recrossed yellow skin raw you stare down into heat she falls backwards mistrusts holes in the hands and feet used nails every inch death patterns circles spirals cross recross every inch nearer and nearer into heat his neck stretches Ahalpuh he who he who makes pus every name shadows on the walls wind spirals into heat spills sand gravel you ride up close nearer and nearer you use ropes to pull the head and torso held her whitish bones high in air near a forked tree broken rocks a mile of black dust whose names are gouged letters angled white-edged your fingers through sand clay through sand clay silt your fingers tracing slant of wall every inch mistrusts deviates Tell me who assures you that this work ever was black stems sticking out letters planted shape a headless idol crust ash then you ride up close loosen your braids hoof-beats swerving shadowed on walls you heard crows their claws searching black coals clumps of deep-pink rot fissures death patterns backflow crossed left to right you are drawing raw thongs image of a whipped and crucified woman your saliva pools behind your teeth you lower your wrist plagued by doubt angled letters gouged into walls nearer and nearer smoke from a burning cross smoke from a burning cross spreads over you looked at a photograph miles of cracked clay walls of a circular house spilling blows sand on carcass near a forked tree near a forked tree pointed tracks broken rocks stained with blood strips calculated weight and night air measured outlines counted counted one for crow one for cutworm through woodland smoke from a burning cross mistrusts you ride up close right right to left of corpse staring down analyzing death patterns jaw crushed pus from slit ears deep-pink marrow deep-pink marrow exposed blue haze through woodland you heard crows their claws searching horses passing near a forked tree hooves pointed tracks death patterns bones black horns curve out sand mud hooves crushing entrails bright red bright red stems red wild corn slowly ash crust soaking Ahalpuh he who makes pus you ride up close stare down on horseback pursing pursing your lips measuring claws your neck stretches left to right nearer and nearer