Four Poems
Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal
SPIDER BITES
I am Spider.
In 1960 I learned
to crawl.
In 1940 I woke up
with spider bites.
I am French and
I am an Englishman.
I speak
each language when
I'm not Spider.
I'm trying to be born
again. I want to
be a man.
I want to walk on two
feet. I want to dance.
I let my web fly
from the earth to the sky.
I take
mushrooms to see
all things askew.
When I'm man and
no longer Spider, I
will be called John Doe.
I will go surfing.
In the ocean
I will be Fish. I
will swim.
when I drown man
and Spider won't
be spared. In 2006
I will learn to
be born again.
There won't be spider
bites next time around.
BEATING ON THE HEAD LIKE A CONGA DRUM
I told the punk
to respect
his elders.
He talked smack all
evening long.
I lost it.
I grabbed a hold
of his head
and beat it
like a conga drum.
It felt all
hollow. No
good music came
out of his
stupid head.
All that happened
was the cops
taking me
to another
psych ward. They
said I was
impulsive and
that I had
no control.
But my hand was
steady when
it beat time
on that melon.
I made the
best of it.
I tell you, no
good music
could be made
with such a head.
I tired to
say sorry.
But it was much
too late and
I was held
for three days, then
another
fourteen days.
SLEEPING PILLS
I need another
sleeping pill.
I am so weary.
I want rest.
I need death to come
to put a
lid on my tired eyes
and body.
Maybe tomorrow
I will be
in a much better
place than this.
The painkillers don't
do a thing.
I've had this nagging
bug inside
where my heart is. I
bet it has
eaten a hole clean
through because
I don't feel love and
I don't feel
life. I only want
life to end.
The doctor will not
give me what
I want. I want some
sleeping pills.
I want a bottle
of them to
put my miserable
life away.
AGAINST THE SUN
Under the iron
Pressing down
From the sky.
Its rigid laws of
Science burns
Throughout me.
I melt as its rays
Devour me.
As I shake
A tired first at it,
Its brilliance
Shines me on.
I have nothing to
Offer it.
I cannot
Reason with it. My
Lips are dry.
I'm speechless.