mbowen@well
<![CDATA[
(dramatically, like roscoe lee browne describing the grafting of violets)
i am michael
i was 'z' in the first kwanzaa
by the seventh grade i had already waxed romantic
show and tell 'santa clause i hate you because you stink'
pop's poem silenced columban nuns
renee got kicked out for talking
about her first period, she played the snake
in the eden play
rumor was
she went lesbo at l.a. high
finally i found her name
in greg tate's flyboy daps
i have yet to be found
i knew crips and fortran
always got english high marks
for this i got bryn mawr junk mail
& puzzled scenarios from jesuit counsel
e.e. early decision at usc but
it was a military program
nor could i afford it
so i sold radios, retail
(passively, like chicken george on dandelion wine)
five floors above flatbush
the mute poet scribes angularly
non linear at odd hours hoping to touch
self referential tosk the hunted
carving out bSpace among the well meaning]]></plaintext></div>