The Arsonist
12.05.02
Today is the P4P reading (Poetry for the People. Xingón poets doing the hockie pockie polka dot word dance.) I wish we called it performance instead of reading. I want to learn how to "act." I need to start memorizing my poems.
Someone once told me, "what if "they" burn all your books like they did once?" Thousands of native people's books and paintings and all sorts of types of testimony/history/religion recordings were destroyed when the Spanish came to spread the "good word." The only way things survived was through oral tradition/communal memory.
I still need to work on my poem. I think I'm going to read the one about the two men serving as walking adds. I wrote this poem out of anger. I think that is sad to render someone the role of an add, to advertise a house that they cannot themselves buy, or to have them under the burning sun inside a thick foam Little Caesar costume is fucked up.
I'm writing a play called "The Arsonist." It's about a young Xicano that is real angry with all the shit that happens to him. His cousin was shot, he's sent to a continuation high school, and the army recruiters bug him all the time. So this young Xicano, after watching the movie Fight Club, decides to take his anger on getting back "at the system." He's still immature about politics, but considering his age, he's cool.
This play is also about transformation. "Fernando" está encabronado con el mundo, so he burns shit up. At the end of the play, I want to create a feeling of change when nothing much has changed. Internal change is what I'm shooting for. Bueno, haver que.
Hopefully I can get the play to be performed. First I need to finish writing it. I'm shooting to have it ready by the 16th. Ojala.
Work has been alright. I really don't like the two tutors workign with the program. One is too quiet. She's not proactive. The other dude just talks too much about non-academic stuff. Les da cuerda instead of focusing them. I had a talk with them. I remind them that we are responsible for mantaining an environment conductive to learning, meaning, we need to keep a good level of respect, silence, and remind students of their responsibilities.
Quetzalli is asleep right now, so I'm just taking advantage to write my journal. I don't think people read this. I'm also feeling kind of weird about letting my students know about my site, cuz I feel that I need to be proper. But I think I need to be real and respectful. Proper is for those with property (what?).
vamonos pues
paz pan y poesía
