WXYZ, and: Incantation on a Frank Big Bear Collage

WXYZ

She prints in black crayon—WXYZ—letters for animals this kid has never met:Z is for Zebra, Y is for Yak.A train wreck of little used consonants,a pile up at the dead end of the alphabet—WXYZ.Then Zorro slashes a Zacross the curved glass of her TVand a deep unknown Xsolves with a dark hero who could besome kind of mixed blood, maybe,some answer to all the words with W:Who? What? When? Where?And sometimes Y.

Incantation on a Frank Big Bear Collage

Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.Bar the eyes, but not the breasts,cut from marble pale nudes out of Art History books.Bar the luscious behind of Marilyn Monroe.Cut the cut body builder, the honey-baked ham, the recombinant Christ.Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.Bar the warriors on the Wallowing Bull work.Cut the Bog Man so he sits right on Custer’s face.Bar emblems and icons and emblem-ography.Cut the Blue Period into the blues guitar.Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.Bar the door to your studio—photographers still get in.Cut happy Anne Frank into newsreel out of Guernica.Bar the Gertrude Stein and her little dog, too.Cut the death stars from cosmic maps and eclipse them.Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.Bar the Sepia-toned Warrior and the horse he rode in on.Cut the lines, curves, tones that say It’s full of stars.Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.Bar the fringe on the two-hide dress.Cut the sneak-up dancer into action.Bar the wheel spokes and the battle scene.Cut the curve of the rubber glove, the dial-up lovely child.Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.Bar the lines in my poem, the lines of my smile.Cut clean with keen comment, slashed and clashed colors.Bar the windows, the Red Owl looming into view,cut by bars, stripes from the American flag.