Elizabeth Terrazas


Cognoscente


you impersonate a tool
curious    it’s a little bit firedendrom
everything is burning

are you an opiate    am I a motif
           a meticulous craving
inside staying out the promise

made belaying Hueco Tanks last year
the composition of gravel and veins
           altitude of promises

topographical maps where it hit
           Cognoscente in absentia
beware the one thing

the ask of the now you see
           a cultural amnesia
a whodunit absolution

the poem sings Jupiter
           melodic strings wave
who we were when it left
                                                             theory

math suddenly learns my rhythm
and I learned hers    inside Cook canyons
deep tunnels further           we could swim

further did we furrow
the weight bearing beams



Horse Races, the Plastic Cups
    (the infinite and the finite)

 
burning it with ash and hay 
far more than 500 
miles is years 
that is likely from speed data 

a single big spill of technology 
failed, ignored 

 “normally we have a finite operation and redundant steel events and strategy…” 


the bling >>>>>>>>>>>> 

patina 


“we’ll pay for everything” 

               “                       “<<<<<<<<<<< 

Headless— 
And I s-s-s-say, “Horseman.” 


2. 

I’m going to Glue 
Something 
to myself 
brilliant cellophane 
stars—no begging 

empty. how a tree 
falls in tears 

let’s imagine we have 
swings and branches 
let’s imagine we live 

not unlike a tree 
older than our timber 
or sails 

I am a piano 
                the hummingbird 
of who I was— 

ever notice the community 
in my building? 
not unlike the museum 
on this page—great caves 
and tunnels 
meant to hide our death 


3. 

Who’s got a tendency 
Trait or streak      streaks 
of yellow and purple gerberas? 

No. 

a clown fish 
the bouquet      I painted 
my hand blue—but not 
Las Vegas. More like 

Las Noches 
los dias la lumbre 
—maybe a tourist season 
summer fall falls upon us 

a turnkey 


4. 

Horse races the plastic cups 
generally I favor Tri Fectas 
Win, Place or Show is settling for, 
I think—I take it back. Behavior 
Modification (and I do), err 
on this side of caution. Win. 

They bet Dutch on hedge 
funds. They did. Housing funds, 
derivatives, petroleum dinosaur 
safety 

should I get Biblical? 
the eye of the beholder 
the eye of Horus 

they aye’s have it. 

all the money in the world… 

Elizabeth Terrazas is a Latina writer who writes in both Spanish and English. She comes from El Paso, Texas, the place where New Mexico and Texas and Mexico meet. "Lots of desert influence, desert driving, hiking and climbing rocks."
 
 
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