Quincy Troupe

THE POINT LOMA SERIES OF HAIKUS & TANKAS
for Mathieu Gregoire

I.
beauty all places
here, look inside yourself now,
look deeper, it's there

II.
gray day underground
in the tunnel, bright, warm sun
outside in the blue,
inside your own deep working
time, thoughts of making sweet love

III.
think of making love
to the work that you do here,
think of it as song,
music whispering, a breeze,
a tongue of someone you love

IV.
think of a sweet place,
now that you are here, in all
this darkness, light where
you are standing with yourself,
wherever you have to go

V.
smile whenever you
think of the sweet love blooming
inside your hard head,
think of it as a flower
you will hand to someone soon

VI.
down here in darkness
think of roses when you look
at these concrete walls

VII.
your mind a window
to look inside yourself, see
a rich garden there,
bright with flowers, whose faces
pop the air like sweet music

VIII.
deep rumblings in air,
is sound of sea waves smashing
skulls of wet black rocks

IX.
somewhere on a hill
burning candle flames-tall pines
shoot up, reach skyward,
their v, for victory, signs-
lick hot tongues, scorch the air

AMERICA'S BUSINESS: A SIMPLE PRAYER

hand over your souls & empty out all your bank accounts
for greed is one of america's main pastimes,
creating icons for this purpose, huge profits is the rule of thumb
for jesus christ superstar, marilyn monroe manson as cross-dresser,
donald duck & mickey mouse, silly little critters from disneyworld
packing them in, reducing our pulverized brains to sawdust,
daffy duck promos for big bucks, corniness rolling in liquid gold & green
backs, two-ton cartoon people trying to swim to glory through their mouths,
wearing bathing suits in shallow water, flab rolling around their midsections,
spilling over the corners of their suits like holy lard, shaking like jello
while they blather on & on like coked-up idiots, cameras rolling,
feed dream machines, while cold assistants carry duffle bags of cash to banks,
nothing spiritual here, just greed & power polished over daffiness, cornball
americana wearing blow-dried hairdos, manicured nails,
sporting attitudes of privilege, decked out in sky-blue sports
jackets with gold buttons, shiny white shoes, white socks, & a mouthful
of spit-shined, brand-new enamel-like mine that flash brighter than day
break, than a polished, brand-new nickel, or a grinning cheshire cat,
dr. ruth spilling out rot-gut words that shoot
nails like tails of stars disappearing over the horizon, people bailing out,
like black holes down the night, rush limbaugh lying quicker than a cobra
snake grinning happy before he strikes, but a lot of people seem
downright giddy seeing psychos get rich & famous telling them why
should be contemplating their own wrinkled navels, wacko
talking heads, hosts swamping television air space-

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