Trouble on Triton

Trouble on Triton
—for Samuel R. Delany
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqiWCFiBV14&feature=related

“Lay ordinate and abscissa
on the century. Now cut me
a quadrant. Third quadrant
if you please. I was born in
‘fifty. Here it’s 2010”
—Samuel R. Delany,
Time Considered as a Helix
Of Semi-Precious Stones

a toke of some grass—
helps to transform this journey
into a helix

a neat tight helix—
of semi-precious stones
from here to triton

spring passes—
deep water horizon blows
the birds & fish scream

ah—speechless back then
disco inferno bad boyz
blazing saddles time

we shave our heads bald—
my brokeback mountain boyfriend
we start the journey

stopped awhile on mars—
by the pyramid ruins
our journey moving

jasper the password—
throughout six worlds & worldlets
translation: “help me”

the hologram plate—
gets cut in half & again
same information

by analogy—
tralfamadorian time
bejeweled facets shine

bp, exxon, shell—
big time racketeer barons
crime big business

good witch of the west—
in her saucer overhead
speeds toward triton town

with this jewel i joined—
the roguish fraternity
doorways dialed open

there was the kid hawk—
get me outta here i said
we got barefoot out

nasty grimy kid—
dirty black denim jacket
no shirt beneath it

hair pale like split pine—
a ripe pair of black bluejeans
“what else ya got, huh?”

on the waterfront—
by the flashing black hudson
down by the dark piers

i showed him the jewels—
he pawed thru them all knuckles
and chewed fingernails

they were worth plenty—
ten times more than i ever
hoped to get that night

the kid said “hey, not bad—
am going to a party
later on tonight”

hell’s kitchen at ten—
regina abolafia
at the tower top

citycorp singers—
tokyo leads with seven
alex spinnel’s there

the word is changing—
tonight and young hawk is game
we walk towards times square

past fifty-seventh—
strolling down the new york streets
down in the subway

doors hiss, grey floor hums—
dark patterns rushed the windows
we lurched to a stop

above us a light rain—
a thousand sequined city
rushing overhead

the platform sign said—
twelve towers station with its
with its tall condos

luxury towers—
menacing the lower clouds
we went straight up there

sleek elevator—
wrapped in its gold foil petals
eighty stories zip

hawk called me harvey—
cadwaliter-erickson
the tungsten magnate

the party was swank—
sarah palin was schmoozing
for planet potus

many wealthy guests—
senators, gay debutantes
golden charisma creeps

texaco heiress—
some university profs
movie stars rich riff-raff

“the new word’s agate”—
hawk the scifaiku poet
said over his drink

lumps of moonlight fell—
like lozenges thru the palms
arty the hawk smiled

i sold him the jewels—
some scarlet-banded tablets
sixty-thousand bucks

the helicopter—
blackened the moon above
crashed thru the ceiling

we made our escape—
hawk & me diving into
the elevator

infernal feet ran—
the loud alarms were sounding
the flames were roaring

the lobby filled up—
times square filled into the fray
brawlers, drunks, addicts

thieves, morphadine-heads—
douchedroid hustlers, some old drunks
then a brawl broke out

we passed thru the guards—
all of them had been paid off
such precise finesse

parted company—
no blow-darts from passing cars
no alley deathrays

i reached the subway—
got the fuck outta there fast
nothing happened yet

agate gave way to—
malachite which turned into
tourmaline, beryl

then came porphyry—
sapphire, cinnabar, turquoise
and then tiger’s eye

my new nom de plume—
h. calhoun eisenhower
triton ice cream queen

neptune mafia—
middle-class underworld hood
carefully legit

garnet took over—
the basic rule be careful
imitate others

topaz i whispered—
trans-triton corporation
i wore a nice suit

toured the frozen cliffs—
methane niagara falls
honeymoon romance

my hair black nappy—
my new bride a droid princess
cybernetic cunt

played it deadpan some—
iapetus lux for lunch
bellona plaza

lovers came & went—
nonchalant mutant affairs
i got used to it

trianon hotel—
android ambiguities
humanoid failings

grew my own young spocks—
in vats of vulcan jizzjuice
morphed badboy valets

spent all my spare time—
with au naturel androids
nude dilated eyes

gemütlichkeit boyz—
retro-engineered just right
grotesque genitals

great tourist gimmick—
johnny eck the cute half-boy
other half all-dick

another disguise—
my next flight to bellona
back to planet earth

the marigold suite—
aboard the platinum swan
johnny eck’s dick mine