Smirk, Sly Arroyo (And Eels, Too, Kneel)

I carry the village in tattoos across my arms.

--Luis J. Rodriguez

On this sleeve,

On this, the eve of 11—

On the battalion of scalps and scapegoats, I

Devour a namesake, hoard scraps, these

Iron-clad heirlooms;

Eulogy, eulogy,

Chucks, estirantes, mi tapa that once

once

Was ours—

A whisper zigzagged the moon, disguises the skies,

And I’m marooned, doomed, I

Loom, a cirrus pantheon,

I bloom;

Smirk, sly arroyo, so coarse so coaxed:

That Tuesday Circus

Encircles my girth, all my worth

Propounds what one envelope divulges that day

Si fue tu, guey. All of it there—

Jetsam, scrape, los payasitos

lithe as eels.