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Morning; Evening

By David S. Maduli
—after Willie Perdomo
the east oakland culdesac party
for hector’s 40th, ah man that blocked off
dead end street might actually be
a barrio in ilocos or guadalajara or east los
or east oakland where it really is
when the dj throws on bell biv devoe even
grandma is gettin down on the walkway
up the porch and there’s a taco truck pulled up
and pancit palabok and pulled pork with king’s
hawaiian bread and mac n cheese
 
the opposite of the scene at mosswood park 
that morning when you took the kids and hipsters were spread out on a blanket
with a box of peet’s and another box of la farine pastries hella taking their shoes
off and lounging on the spongy playground surface
way too comfortable
encroaching on the swingset zone so much you’re practically tripping over
them as you try and push your son and you wish the angle would be just right
on the upswing his foot would catch a laughing
skinny jeans digital slr zoom lens strapped newcomer on his bearded chin
 
o, but hector’s party, big al calls you over
pours you a paloma
tequila and ice cubes topped with squirt
points to the table where your wife is wiping
your daughter’s face and your son is balancing his way
on the cinder blocks circling the tree and chuckles
bro, that’s your beautiful family right there
you know that?
that’s you
and i knew you before all that
before her
i knew you after some shit went down
and you didn’t know what was gonna happen next
you didn’t even know what you
were doing and where you were going
and now here you are
so don’t fuck this up
because if you fuck this up
it fucks me up
 
the opening synths of i got five on it
echo up to the hills
this better be the remix with richie rich!
someone shouts
and of course it is

[inner vision]

By David S. Maduli
Fender Rhodes, Moog Bass,
 
          T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer, Hammond organ,                         
 
      Hohner clavinet, drums,                                                                      
 
shaker, harmonica,                                                                                                 
 
handclaps                                                                                                                                

if this was a superhero storyboard the beam diverging skyward would be lasers to slice concrete or a freeze ray or memory washer but nah, this is real life with corals that twist from the desert floor and pyramids oxidizing in the pocket between erie and huron, and slate is the color of everything and most days the timbre too. inside the gatefold the three patrol—silence, despair, apathy—with arms at the same oblique angle which the laser pierces the beige, but i already told you it’s not that. the beam, despite blotches of rust and patina is the only true thing that matters: it is the inside of two eyes looking at the sun     
(Repeat several times)
 
 
(Repeat to end)
 
 
REPEAT and FADE
 
 
FADE
 
 
REPEAT – MUSIC – FADE
 
 
REPEAT and FADE
 
 
FADE

above above

By David S. Maduli
—for Nia Wilson
above wild fires: paw prints jaguar spots condor feathers insides
of a shearling bomber pod of humpback whales snakes kin
goldening fog smokening blue stevie’s ribbon is
a chemtrail double helix cloud nursery cloud mortuary
box jellyfish lair baleen rain something 
more unearthly more knotted to call
it phoenix is
too easy call
it moon's
larvae
 
window
opens into
migraine halos aurora borealis
on the curtains means
police outside bart train
is a dagger swifting concord-bound pleasant 
hill is a darkening place hayward fault’s
steady bass tone undermines all chord progression daughter
sleeps sideways son wails night amtrak baritone
reverbs up the redwoods
four octaves higher:
nia and her sisters’ laughter

David S. Maduli is a father of two, veteran public school teacher, deejay, and author of the chapbook 00:33:33 (thirty-three and a third) (Zoetic Press, 2018). He is an alumnus of the VONA, Las Dos Brujas, and Napa Valley Writers’ workshops, and he was the 2011 recipient of the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. A descendant of Filipino immigrants born in San Francisco and raised all over, he is a longtime resident of Oakland, CA. He completed his MFA in Creative Writing at Mills College with a fellowship in Community Poetics.
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