Rodrigo Toscano
Livewires & Duds
Seville woke up in New Orleans
and quickly spotted three poets
on its doorstep, sounding Northeast.
Benin rang the doorbell two times,
in came Havana flashing flesh
and three duds from Massachusetts.
A livewire from Port-au-Prince yelled
from across the rain-soaked alley
“two more duds closing in, east, west.”
Seville said, “look, I’m a livewire
I can’t just ping Ponchatoula
and make you all Bourbon Starlets!
And neither can Port-au-Prince shine
while two Connecticut duds croon
whatever they croon shocking themselves.”
Benin, backing it up, added
“soon as these clouds clear, I’m bouncin’
plus activating—four livewires”
Havana, sprawled out on the porch
thinking of ways to radiate
without freaking a dud, or three.
Seville, stood on the balcony
and watched the rain turn to vapor
looking for livewires through the haze.
Port-au-Prince, fell in with two duds
dub-stepping to the riverbank
and tried—confabbing—a quick match.
Ponchatoula, woke up at noon
unaware of the whole circus
but hungry for the whole circus.
Chatty Cholula
Igneous rocks
smushed together
with lime & clay.
This church sits
atop a pyramid,
steadfast.
You can piss
all over them
but maybe don’t.
We mean
test them
feel the layering.
Were they wood
they wouldn’t stand
repeated “tests”.
Rocks repel and
keep us bouncy
here, too.
There they are
there they’ve been
(there they’ll be)
“Say something”
politics insists
“about culture”
Ok, how about
syncretism’s day
is here to say.
“Say something else!”
politics demands
“about practice”
Ok—question:
how many layers
to your city.
One layer
can be plenty
don’t walk away
Test culture
by just sitting
and chatting.
Whittling words
peels layers
from city folks.
Smushing words
a proven way
to piss away the day.
Rodrigo Toscano is a poet and dialogist based in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest books are The Cut Point (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence, 2022). His Collapsible Poetics Theater was a National Poetry Series selection. His poetry has appeared in over 20 anthologies, including Best American Poetry (2023, 2004) and Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX). His poetry has appeared in the Boston Review, Poetry Magazine, The Harvard Advocate, Yale Review, Fence, among many others. Toscano has received a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. He won the Edwin Markham 2019 prize for poetry. He was an Honorable Mention for the 2023 International Latino Literary Awards. His books are regularly taught nationwide. His poetics plays have been performed at the Disney Redcat Theater and Ontological-Hysteric Poet’s Theater Festival. His radio pieces have aired on WPIX FM, KAOS Public Radio, WNYU, and PS.1 Radio. His poetry has been translated into French, Dutch, Italian, German, Portuguese, Norwegian and Catalan. He works for the Labor Institute in conjunction the National Institute for Environmental Health Science on educational training projects that involve environmental and labor justice culture transformation. rodrigotoscano.com @Toscano200
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