when columbus discovered america

i

welcome you, welcome
to this fair land
of green
green as the moist food
you eat
plenty as the jingle in you
piggy bank
golden as the picture maiden’s
hair
i say to you
welcome!
entrance knob to the unknown
you are
explored, a myth,
a challenge
to viking prospects
of noble heritage
come in
talent
tradesman
owner of your good fortune
counted in dividends
and shared earnings
i say to you
come in!
prospector, miner,
blacksmith, doctor,
lawyer
stability built
into a sold wall
of crowning
flesh
i say to you
you are

american sweet

ii

i am not easy
i am not uneasy
but i am not easy

i speak in the present
while living in the past
where i dream of the future

i am silence is golden
in a meandering tongue
unknown to pure english speakers

i am aa bond
stocked in c blood
for b plus people

i am a child
with a woman’s heart
in a man’s body

i am a crystal mirror
where no light penetrates
except dark reflections

i am the driver
for a for-passenger-only car
on a no-lane highway

i am the question
i seek to answer
with no picture words

i am the dreamer
with the realistic mind
of a pessimist

hello to america
hello to earth
farewell to me

i am not easy
i am not uneasy
but i am not easy

iii

through dying C
through dying through lying
through crying
through trying to comfort
you C
my home my home
comfort dispersed
when i found out
what you are A
how you came to be me
A A
how i came to be you
A A aaaa
aahh

iv

where are we going america?
to the future
to the past
or where
shall i take this question?

o christmas tree
o christmas tree
string you answers too?

are my jolly eyes deceiving you
oh wondrous mystic
of steady employment
here i am! catch phrases
caught me?

caught caught caught
in dreams dreams

i am packing my bag america
flying the coop when the next war comes
vamoose!
shall i ride
and you will have my address,
dear as you are,
to send me picture post cards
of all the dead heroes
for christmas