The race you never knew
with a language never to be spoken,
and rites forgotten.
The race you never knew
with all their names
for God and Devil.
The race you never knew
and the children
who believed the stories
too,
imagined them
in the woods
away
from the eyes
of their elders
as all children
everywhere still
do.
The race you never knew
that expected
to live and live
and always live
never giving a thought
to anything but
the seasons of life.
The race you never knew
now
a Jeopardy fucking question,
or
an answer
on
a standardized test
to make sure it's really fair.
Two years,
dates separated by a (-) dash.
A fight over who owes who
what in meaningless academic halls.
T-shirts sold for 19.95 in the mall.
Pages of symbols only "experts" can read.
Movie reviews that speak of "authenticity."
The race you never knew
so loving,
so diabolical,
forgotten, lost, exterminated, extinguished, erased, dust and discussed,
ROMANTICIZED,
just like us.
By popular request
the race you never knew
has gone into oblivion with
all the rest.
Los Angeles - 9/3/03
