DUENDE

  POEMS, 1966–NOW

  QUINCY TROUPE

  SEVEN STORIES PRESS

  NEW YORK • OAKLAND • LONDON

  Copyright © 2022 by Quincy Troupe

  a seven stories press first edition

  (Embryo copyright © 1972 by Quincy Troupe; Snake-Back Solos copyright © 1978 by Quincy Troupe; Skulls along

  the River copyright © 1984 by Quincy Troupe; Weather Reports: New and Selected Poems copyright © 1991 by

  Quincy Troupe; Avalanche copyright © 1996 by Quincy Troupe; Choruses copyright © 1999 by Quincy Troupe;

  Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems © 2002 by Quincy Troupe; The Architecture of Language: Poems copyright

  © 2006 by Quincy Troupe; Errançities: Poems copyright © 2012 by Quincy Troupe; Ghost Voices: A Poem in Prayer

  copyright © 2019 by Quincy Troupe; Seduction: New Poems, 2013–2018 copyright © 2019 by Quincy Troupe; and

  new poems copyright © 2019, 2020 and 2021 by Quincy Troupe. All rights reserved.)

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Seven Stories Press

  140 Watts Street

  New York, NY 10013

  www.sevenstories.com

  College professors and high school and middle school teachers may order free examination copies of Seven Stories Press titles. Visit https://www.sevenstories.com/pg/resources-academics or email academics@sevenstories.com.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Troupe, Quincy, author.

  Title: Duende : poems, 1966-now / Quincy Troupe.

  Description: New York : Seven Stories Press, 2021.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2021020301 (print) | LCCN 2021020302 (ebook) | ISBN 9781644210468 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781644210451 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781644210475 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCGFT: Poetry.

  Classification: LCC PS3570.R63 D84 2021 (print) | LCC PS3570.R63 (ebook) | DDC 811/.54--dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021020301

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021020302

  Printed in the USA.

  9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  All artwork © José Bedia:

  frontis: Stillness, 1994, tempura & charcoal on Stonehenge paper, 41 1/8 x 51 3/8 inches wide

  page 216: Avalanche, 1994, tempura & charcoal on Stonehenge paper, 41 1/8 x 52 3/8 inches wide

  page 229: A Poem for “Magic,” 1994, acrylic on amate bark paper, 47 x 94 1/8 inches wide

  page 244: The Old People Speak of Death, 1994, acrylic on amate bark paper, 47 x 94 1/8 inches wide

  page 246: Conjuring Against Alien Spirits, 1994, 41 1/8 x 52 3/8 inches wide

  page 251: Poem for My Father, 1994, tempura & charcoal on Stonehenge paper, 41 1/8 x 52 3/8 inches wide

  page 254: Male Springtime Ritual, 1994, tempura & charcoal on Stonehenge paper, 41 1/8 x 52 3/8 inches wide

  page 260: La Jolla-1 & 2, 1994, tempura & charcoal on Stonehenge paper (diptych), 41 1/8 x 52 3/8 inches wide

  page 261: The Flip Side of Time, 1994, tempura & charcoal on Stonehenge paper, 41 1/8 x 52 3/8 inches wide

  For Margaret

  CONTENTS

  From Embryo

  (barlenmir house, 1972)

  Embryo

  RHYTHMS

  Come Sing a Song

  Profilin, A Rap/Poem

  Midtown Traffic

  Chicago

  BLOOD RIVERS

  The Syntax of the Mind Grips

  Weather Report in Lincoln Nebraska 2/8/71

  White Weekend

  Woke Up Crying the Blues

  In Texas Grass

  Three for the Biafran War

  Blood-Rivers

  EMBRYO

  In Seventy-five Syllables

  In the Manner of Rabearivello

  Dream Poem/Song

  Rain/Time

  Dream/Dance

  Birds Fly without Motion to the Summit

  Beneath the Bluest Sea

  From Snake-Back Solos: Selected Poems, 1969–1977

  (i. reed books, 1978)

  Ash Doors & Juju Guitars

  I.

  Up Sun South of Alaska

  These Crossings, These Words

  New York City Beggar

  After Hearing A Radio Announcement: A Comment on Some Conditions

  Steel Poles Give Back No Sweat

  Snow & Ice

  A Surrealistic Poem to Everyone & No One in Particular

  From Richmond College, Postmarked—Manhattan

  II.

  Legon, Ghana, After Dark

  Ghanaian Song-Image

  Igbobi, Nigerian Night

  Memory

  Out Here Where

  III.

  It Is Not

  In A Silence of Bells

  In Memory of Bunchy Carter

  The Other Night

  Flying Kites

  Transformation

  Fireflies

  IV.

  The Day Duke Raised: May 24th, 1984

  Four, and More

  Snake-Back Solo

  V.

  Poem for Skunder Boghossian, Painter

  Collage

  My Poems Have Holes Sewn into Them

  From Skulls along the River

  (i. reed books, 1984)

  I.

  Skulls along the River

  South Central Vandeventer Street Rundown

  River Town Packin House Blues

  Poem for My Brother Timmy

  Old Black Ladies on Bus Stop Corners

  River Rhythm Town

  II.

  Whose Death Is This Walking towards Me Now

  Ode to John Coltrane

  The Sky Empties Down Ice

  Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, 1978

  Eighth Avenue Poem

  Poem for Lady Day & Dinah Washington

  Image

  Riff

  III.

  Impressions 8

  Impressions 12

  Impressions 15

  Just Cruisin & Writin

  IV.

  Harlem Late Night Lyric

  The Day Strides There on the Wind

  V.

  Memos & Buttons

  Las Cruces, New Mexico

  It All Boils Down

  116th Street & Park Avenue

  Leon Thomas at the Tin Palace

  VI.

  Untitled 3

  Eye Throw My Rope Tongue into the Sky

  A Thought for You, Margaret

  A Poem for Ojenke & K. Curtis Lyle

  Southern Lyric; Ritual

  Passing on the Legacy

  New York City Stream Poem

  At the End

  From Weather Reports: New Poems, 1984–1990

  (harlem river press / writers and readers, 1991)

  Perennial Ritual

  Boomerang: A Blatantly Political Poem

  Les Cayes, Haiti & 3 Religions on Parade: 1984

  In Memoriam

  Avalanche Aftermath

  Porter, at 18 Months

  Change

  Eye Walk

  Tout de Même—Nice & Malibu

  21 Lines to Carnot, Guadeloupean Master Drummer

  Poem for the Root Doctor of Rock n Roll

  Reflections on Growing Older

  Falling Down Roads of Sleep

  Following the North Star Boogaloo

  From Avalanche

  (coffee house press, 1996)

  The Sound, Breaking Away

  I.

  Watch Out for Sound Bites & Spin Doctors

  A Response to All You “Angry White Males”

  Eye Change Dreams

  Slippin’ & Slidin’ Over Syllables for Fun

  A Poem for “Magic”

  & Syllables Grow Wings There

  One for Charlie Mingus

  Avalanche

  II.

  Poem for Friends

  “Minnesota Nice”

  Let’s Say You Are Who

  The Old People Speak of Death

  Conjuring Against Alien Spirits

  The Absoluteness of Seconds

  For Malcolm, Who Walks in the Eyes of Our Children

  Poem for My Father

  Male Springtime Ritual

  III.

  Untitled

  San Juan Island Image

  La Jolla

  The Flip Side of Time

  Birth Form: Tercetina

  The View from Skates in Berkeley

  From Choruses

  (coffee house press, 1999)

  I.

  Song

  Sestina for 39 Silent Angels

  Forty-one Seconds on a Sunday in June, in Salt Lake City, Utah

  II.

  Gray Day in January in La Jolla

  Mother

  Jerez de la Franterea

  III.

  The Point Loma Series of Haikus & Tankas

  Your Lover’s Eyes Speak

  IV.

  Bells

  V.

  Choruses

  Words that Build Bridges Toward a New Tongue

  From Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems

  (coffee house press, 2002)

  9/11 Emergency Calls Coming into Manhattan

  Reconfigurations

  Pulse & Breathe

  What the
Poetic Line Holds

  One Summer View; in Port Townsend, Washington

  Fast Lane

  Shades of Blue for a Blue Bridge

  Transcircularities

  From The Architecture of Language

  (coffee house press, 2006)

  I.

  Haiku Scenes

  II.

  Versace

  III.

  The Hours Fly Quick

  Three Sevens: 21 Lines Hoping for Change

  Eye Am Forever Looking for Shadows

  IV.

  Memory, as A Circle: For the Love Eye Lost in Hurricane Audrey

  Diva

  Lucille

  The Shot

  For Richard Pryor: 1940–2005

  V.

  Connections

  In Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe

  A Woman in the Water

  A Kite above the Beach

  The Moon Is A Lemon Wedge

  Sometimes in Montebello

  The Old Black Man Walking

  Eye Am Thinking of Moments

  We Have Come Here Again

  VI.

  What Is It Poetry Seeks

  Switchin’ in the Kitchen

  VII.

  The Architecture of Language

  From Errançities

  (coffee house press, 2012)

  I.

  An Art of Lost Faith

  Las Cruces, New Mexico Revisited

  Where Have They All Gone

  II.

  After Seeing An Image in Ashland, Oregon

  On A Sunday

  Mix-y-uppy Memory

  A Hard Quick Rainstorm in Manhattan

  Sounds of New York City

  2002 Manhattan Snapshot: The War on Terror

  A Few Questions Posed

  Foggy Morning in Port Townsend

  The Allusion of Seduction

  III.

  Praise Song for Sekou

  Taps for Freddie

  Miles’s Last Tune Live, August 25th, 1991

  A Poem of Return: Circa 2008

  IV.

  Michael Jackson & The Arc of Love

  V.

  Thoughts on A Sunday Morning in Goyave

  Goyave Night Scene

  Sitting on My Veranda, Facing the Caribbean Sea

  A Veil of Transparent Rain

  Haiti Haiku

  Earthquake: Haiti

  Hurricanes

  Lusting after Mangoes

  Searching for Mangoes: Second Take

  Listening to Blackbirds

  Haiku Song

  A Vision

  VI.

  Seven Elevens

  VII.

  Errançities

  Just Think About It

  Looking into the Future

  Eye Travel Back into Memory

  Untitled Dreamscape

  A Man Walks in Slow Motion

  Connections #2

  Sentences

  Ghost Voices: A Poem in Prayer

  (triquarterly books / northwestern university press, 2019)

  I.

  Chorus Song of Crossing the Big Salt Water

  II.

  First Take

  III.

  The Arrival of Ghost Voices

  IV.

  Translating the Dreams

  V.

  The New Dream of Ghost Voices

  VI.

  Chorus: African Ghost Spirit Crabs Cross Karukera (Guadeloupe)

  VII.

  Transition: Guadeloupe (Karukera) to the Gulf of Mexico

  VIII.

  Song of the Hoodoo Spirit Crabs

  IX.

  The New World: Moving North

  X.

  Going Back to Goyave, Guadeloupe: What My Ears Needed to Hear

  XI.

  Hoodoo Crab Spirits Find New Homes

  XII.

  Thinking of Fusing Spiritual and Cultural Identities Not Lost

  XIII.

  The Enlightened Awakening

  From Seduction: New Poems, 2013–2018

  (triquarterly books / northwestern university press, 2019)

  I.

  Ghost Voices Whispering from the Near Past

  Catching Shadows

  Soon to Be Ghost Voices Plunging through the Sky

  Ghost Waves

  Mercy

  Strange Incidents

  Strange Harlem Encounter: A Portrait

  High Noon Shadow

  Two New Seven-Elevens in Rhyme

  Question

  A Dirge for Michael Brown, Tamir Rice & Trayvon Martin

  II.

  Fragment

  Jazz Improvisation as Blueprint for Living

  Eye Want to Go to Bucaramanga, Colombia

  III.

  Poem for Poets House

  Poem for Lola, Echoing Derek Walcott’s “Sixty Years After”

  A Singer’s Siren Calling in Marcus Garvey Park: August 24, 2013

  A Beautiful Woman Putting on Makeup on the Downtown Number 3 New York Subway Train

  High Up in My Imagination

  Sometimes While Sitting on a Bench in Central Park

  Telephone Call from Samo for Miles Davis

  Death Always Comes

  A Remembrance for Prince (1958–2016)

  Romare Bearden’s Art between 1964 & 1985

  Poem for Jack Whitten

  Lusting after Mangoes Number 3

  Lessons in Seduction

  Passing by La Casa of “Gabo,” March 7th, 2014

  Blue Mandala

  What If Truth Can’t Seduce

  A Double Rainbow Arch

  Seduction

  Usain Bolt’s Final 2016 Olympics

  Hints of Seduction

  Each of Us Here

  Lyric Still Life

  New Poems: 2019–2020

  Duende

  Searching

  A Poem for An Old Man Walking an Equally Old Dog

  A Tanka for Stanley Moss at Age 95

  A Wandering 7–11

  After Reading A Hiroshima Nuclear Bulletin on Yahoo

  All of My Good Old Friends

  Coronavirus Redial

  Dark Clouds Blooming Up Ahead

  Blood

  Hurricane Maria

  Three Wasps in Juan Dolio, Santo Domingo

  Sonic Fireflies

  Watching Seagulls Hunt for Fish in Sines, Portugal

  Spring Time Moving Toward Summer: A Crap Shoot

  Watts 1965

  Flowers Blooming in Central Park

  A Haiku and A Tanka

  Gloster, Mississippi: Tankas and Haikus Suite

  The Haitian Drum Hammerers of Juan Dolio, Santa Domingo

  Trying to Find My Way into A Poem in 14 Lines

  Trump’s Response on Hearing the News of Covid-19

  Trump is America’s Waterloo

  Trump’s Legacy to Black Americans

  There is Always Some Thing

  This One Is for the Black Mamba

  Think of It

  Time

  Some Think

  Nancy Pelosi

  Homage to Elijah Eugene Cummings

  For Hugh

  Space Travel

  A Poem for Derek Walcott

  Another View from Sines, Portugal

  Chasing Words in Lines

  Picking a Dandelion

  Index of titles and first lines

  from

  EMBRYO

  EMBRYO

  for my mother, Dorothy Smith Troupe Marshall

  1.

  We come from earth

  mother give us your blood

  give us strong love to become

  seed of water-spirit

  sunbird of love in flight

  poetry of birth in motion

  strength of cyclic movement

  in a family of plane curves

  locus of points that move

  the ratio

  distance of fixed point

  to distance

  of fixed line

  poetry of birth in motion

  that is infinite

  plane curve formed

  in the water-spirit womb

  of the axis

  the intersected cone

  locus of points summing

  sunbird of love birth in flight

  distances fixing constants

  wind/storm  rain  air  water

  sun earth  spirit-birth

  point of departure

  found in beginnings that ripen

  germinating embryo

  sprung African shades of ancestors

  flung from petals of flowers into

  bloodstreams of harvesting eyewinds

  poetry of birth in motion

  & carried to distant planes

  that sing not from wombseeds

  of Georgia Tennessee & Missouri

  where life sometimes begins & ends

  in wombs of concrete labyrinths

  2.

  Life is molten rocks

  spilling out from lips of volcanoes

  red/orange finger rivers

  that destroy to give birth

  within wombs of solid black rock

  seed of water-spirit

  sunbird of love in flight

  poetry of birth in motion

  fire songs of snake twisting motion

  slide  glide  stride of hip dipping motion

  sunbird of birth in flight