“Properties of X,” 6/15 from 21st Century Retablo. 11.7″ x 16,” mixed-media on archival paper, 2005-06. Permanent collection, USC Fisher Museum of Art.

POEM: properties of x

what could be believed/
at the beginning of the 21st century     history,/
told with man-made stones     we hoped for prophecy/
the signature of the illiterate/
held true: the mark of death and birth/
daily with vigor, we cut our tongues     the voiceless/
given infinite joy by virtue of a hypothetical/

to protect the unknown/
from the unknown, Xs were strategically placed     we were assured cross-/
hairs guaranteed success     “convenience is our number one concern”/
always regrettable, mistakes were made     taken away from the world/
you promised     to ward off evil, bones/
cut and crossed, bundled and rubbed ochre (it’s hard to believe)/
blood red/

to honor the discovery of a comet,/
orbit unknown     answers were given/
in the language of cryptology     how she wept/
when they told her     (the long stream of blood)     tether-bound,/
unable to fly, she pruned herself featherless     on Vatican steps/
tears formed wetlands     the whole damn situation/
FUBAR     you know/

how it is/
we followed the rules of subtraction     the supreme,/
singular guiding principle     cut through nonsense wounds, only to find/
elimination, erasure     the inverse of matter/
some were repaired with stitches and staples     lacerations,/
impossibly prayed for     “ex-/
sanguination is the leading cause of death”/

how immortality pulled us/
toward the unknown