The School of Quietude which abruptly ended in 1954
was revived briefly yesterday by an obscure professor
from Brown University, supposedly a Chicano-only
college. Professor P. Nuevos made a gallant attempt at it
but the revival lasted but a fraction of a second. Much
like the Big Bang which, of course, is what happens when
you put a plate of boiled beans in the microwave for an
hour.

Professor P. Nuevo had his enemies. Especially vicious
was the Post Office Avant group of poets who were
known to go postal on a regular schedule.

Professor P. Nuevo remains a submerging Chicano poet
and he, indeed, does make a valiant effort at reviving
the art. He himself knows he is bound to fail.
Silly man. But, we’ll give him an F anyway, for eFfort.
And we are being extremely kind.


The School Of Soft Knocks


I went to school with Emily Dickinson,
I went to school with Hart Crane,
I went to Fascist school with Ezra Pound.

I went to school with Dylan Thomas,
I went to school with Sylvia Plath,
I got schooled a ton of sex by Anne Sexton.

I went to school with Vangie Vigil,
I went to school with Sandra Cisneros,
but I can’t hold Dylan’s candle to Tafolla’s thighs.

I went to school with Cesar Vallejo
I went to school with the bridge-leaping Berryman.
We read the books that no one wrote.