Airoplain Poem by Victor Hernandez Cruz

To me myself them and others always then and now that day
we was flying through above Atlantic Ocean clouds the plane
and the plan O also plain language plano feet or face was in
perfect harmonious bolero wavy plena to someplace a few miles
away from heaven this gathered from the way the adults poke
their eyes out from their natural sockets More here in the
United States the actual splendour of big cities disfigures
your face even more than imagining its sweetness so much that
you can't taste yourself the way you taste yourself when the
sun shines on through your stomach All you knew was that the
birds fly with you in them too All you knew was miles of green
road eating you One year that comes and another one that splits
that's the way the jingle puts it one December made a print
in your mind And the next December the passion and excitement
the coconut rice and Eisenhower who was President of the
United States used to come to our parties and sit inside the
television set and I began to see paths in the wall by way of
cracks how would this be interpreted Also the cracks made
a perfect bear this must be the Life of skidsofrenos without
any breaks I thought I could take a small bike that I had
and go exploring through the next apartment after I took the
room or the road When I told Mom she said Qué confusión so many
questions back in Aguas Buenas the water was clear and here
there is no guava They can keep Puerto Rico just give us
the guava of independence depending on no bodies tortures dreams
of the past or future within the present State no State ever of
things She loves that fruit the best Assemblage yourself for the rum-
ble on Avenue D against the Sportsman we gonna kick them off the
earth yet see them floating down the East River the street was noisy
and full of jumping bodies moving somewhere One quiet afternoon
the President of one gang fought the President of another gang and
the afternoon changed nature with voices of O man git him Roach
fought Roach fought One of the presidents was named Roach and
he fought and the other guy fought from the middle of the block to
the corner and another person who was not part of the tussle kept
saying Roach fight Roach fought Roach fight Roach is in it Roach is
the one the one is Roach It is Roach do it Roach Roach it is Roach
jumped up he threw him down heat sweating glands Roach is out
he came out and is into a tumbao with Look Roach Tropical
serenity atop hammock and eating Bacalao ala Española and if
news of Ponce de Leon reaches here That he is looking for the
Fountain of Youth say just be tranquil take a bath you smell like
Manhattan sewers if you get drunk don't bite your eyes You cannot
find a plane to go back to that plane The fight kept moving up the
avenue and they fought and fought till they went over the horizon
We have learned the greatest lesson in geography as we moved along
through space at 29 thousand feet eating air going to the next age
over or under or beyond What it could have been like
Sticking it
into her like a root the idea that she can go back and once again feel
happy that she can go to big cabaret dancing in Santurce
Appreciate the aroma of strangers That is what it says in the Bible
the one translated by the maniacs from the land where the Papaya
grows to its full size like a basketball
In the new landscape you can see the word escape into your roots
when they are riding well and it feels hot like you into the
center fabricating thru air motions of mountains of motional
emotion scribbling it takes a lot of concentration to move your
nerves like that Slow up within the jet within the slow propellers
of the 50's Hold up a second there has been a change of space
but everything remains the same angles on your life your
destiny You do your claves on the paper I will read you
your secrets Civilization smells so different within the iron
trees Sivilessensation spread yourself out of it listen to
the beat abnormalize yourself compa.