by Rochelle Owens
The little wooden bambino
thinking––once upon a time
the little wooden bambino
holding a hot wire
cutting out letters
c o v e t o u s
naming letters counting letters
a p p l e
his rosebud mouth an irregular shape
covetous brotherly love
velvety jet black his eyes
counting his wooden fingers
playing with letters
s p e l l I n g
disease famine torture war
the little wooden bambino
chanting—
“in my father’s house”
on the stone floor
an unknown word
an apple tree growing
beyond the edges of a page
under the apple tree
dead and putrefying
a word neither good nor evil
the little wooden bambino
holding a hot wire
cutting out letters
bright colors the letters
letters of black fire
luminous the eyes eyes
of the little wooden bambino
his rosebud mouth an irregular shape
an apple tree growing
limbs and leaves undulating
beyond the edges of a page
Rochelle Owens is the author of twenty books of poetry, plays, and fiction, the most recent of which are Solitary Workwoman, (Junction Press, 2011), Journey to Purity (Texture Press, 2009), and Plays by Rochelle Owens (Broadway Play Publishing, 2000). A pioneer in the experimental off-Broadway theatre movement and an internationally known innovative poet, she has received Village Voice Obie awards and honors from the New York Drama Critics Circle. Her plays have been presented worldwide and in festivals in Edinburgh, Avignon, Paris, and Berlin. Her play Futz, which is considered a classic of the American avant-garde theatre, was produced by Ellen Stewart at LaMama, directed by Tom O’Horgan and performed by the LaMama Troupe in 1967, and was made into a film in 1969. A French language production of Three Front was produced by France-Culture and broadcast on Radio France. She has been a participant in the Festival Franco-Anglais de Poésie, and has translated Liliane Atlan’s novel Les passants, The Passersby (Henry Holt, 1989). She has held fellowships from the NEA, Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and numerous other foundations. She has taught at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Oklahoma and held residencies at Brown and Southwestern Louisiana State. This is Rochelle Owens' twenty-fifth New Verse News poem.
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