February 25, 2017
manuel arturo abreu & James Sherry
Saturday, February 257:00 p.m.
Passages Bookshop
1223 NE M.L. King Blvd
503-388-7665
manuel arturo abreu (b. 1991, Santo Domingo) is a poet and artist from the Bronx. Currently living and working in a garage in southeast Portland, they received their BA in Linguistics from Reed College in 2014. Recent work in AA|LA, As It Stands (LA), INCA (Seattle), Rhizome, Open Space, NewHive, et al. They wrote List of Consonants (Bottlecap Press, 2015) and transtrender (Quimérica Books). They co-facilitate home school, a free pop-up art school in Portland. Find manuel at www.manuelarturoabr.eu.
James Sherry is the author of 12 books of poetry and prose. The essays in Oops! Environmental Poetics, identify the relationship between poetry and climate change. The book being celebrated, Entangled Bank, continues his interest in climate and culture. He is the publisher of Roof Books and started the Segue Foundation, a multi-arts producer, in 1977 in New York City.
Figure
I named the electricity
to the bones of my senses
and before I gazed cheerfully,
I killed tomorrow,
to see if it fell deeper
I waited for centuries
and I was told,
that a slice of bread survives
I sewed in the ground
but could not reach it
it is not the same
but it is not different
Sometimes I figured you out
Below, it is below
the soiled compartment needs my time
And I vomited my chimera
as sick flesh turned away from me
manuel arturo abreu
An EKG Addressed to Monody's Cloven Hoof
Forced change is climate's government
And with it the pretense of change.
Continuing to think it's only we,
It's only us,
A compromise constructs our towns
And makes the voice ring tone.
While poverty pushes our people passive,
Inequality drives us to the polls,
According to Anna.
It's all we can do unless, unless
We're willing to risk a mess, a mess
As if risk itself assured success
Of our endeavors indeed.
While I'm deciding, women vivify D.C.
With figures of endurance and push back,
Ululating where the living operate
Segmented thought
And all the dead know is storytelling.
Citizens motivate through space,
Passively regarding time.
Sweeter far than earthly strain,
Ourselves be bling:
If you refuse to follow the spoor,
It's quite useless to force you.
James Sherry