j.r. Forman
North-Folk in a Desert Land
who will cry for the warlords
who lose their heads fighting
over this desert or that?
who are we—you ask—
who find no man inspiring?
today we depart from las lajitas
tomorrow from the sawtooth mountains
no matter—everywhere lice haunt us
like the spirits of Suma dead
even the Zapatistas sing corridos
about Black Jack’s pony—
that he rides her longer
than Xochiquetzal the whore goddess
and that she has drunk more dust than the sun
J.R. FOrman
J. R. Forman’s (lecturer, Tarleton State University) poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Round, Borderlands, Brief Wilderness, Better Than Starbucks, Ramify, Make It New, Ekphrastic Review, Apricity, Stirring, Matter, Visitant, Streetlight, Glint, Agave, and anthologies by Clemson University Press. He has been a finalist for the Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize and holds a BA from St. John’s College, Santa Fe, and PhDs from the University of Dallas and the University of Salamanca. drjrforman.com @drjrforman