act like it matters
live with intention
map out the landscape
choose your direction
there is no blueprint
for these four dimensions
blaze your own pathways
with their limitations
you are an outcome
a determination
a production ongoing
of past information
so act like it matters
and with each generation
reproduce actions
worth veneration.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2021. All rights reserved.
“What?”, asks the principal,
forgetting that I take
my role as an educator seriously …
.
“You don’t like looking at that?”,
when I mention
that the short shorts
are too too short –
and that it is hot
and about to get hotter.
.
“They’re children”, I remind him
and he laughs
and retorts the way he does,
by saying, “have you seen,
how some of the teachers dress”?
.
“That’s you’re job too”, I say
… but everything seems funny
I guess, when you’re a clown.
.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2010. All rights reserved.
This product is intended for daily use
to write, draw, scribble, scrawl
and put ideas down on paper. It does
not protect against laziness, sloppiness,
and other socially transmitted diseases.
Benefits of daily use may include but
are not limited to improved creativity,
more original originality, a firmer grasp
of daily scheduling, increased productivity,
and mastery of fine motor skills.
Use of this product does not guarantee
these results and the manufacturer in no
way implies that these benefits are typical.
WARNING:
Certain heavy users have exhibited serious
side-effects including irritability, anger,
anxiousness, fatigue, depression, headache,
bloating, muscle aches, balding, nausea,
changes in sexual and gastrointestinal appetites,
carpal tunnel syndrome, thoughts of suicide,
ink stained fingers, cap chewing, blue
tongue, pocket spots and increased
cerebrovascular flow. These symptoms are
typical of engaging intensely in the pursuit
of knowledge and the improvement of one’s
mental faculties and should not be taken
as a sign of misusing the product. If all
symptoms appear simultaneously, stop
using the product immediately and wait
until one or more symptoms disappear
before continuing regular use.
You should not use this product if you
suspect that you are intolerant, lack
a sense of humor, have no imagination
or exhibit symptoms of other psycho/ social dysfunctions.
Please consult a teacher for more information; literally.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2009. All rights reserved.
To who it might concern:
Please accuse J___
for missing school last
week. My ex-boyfriend
has been threatning
and stalking me and
J___ was shopping,
for protection, with his
cousin in New Jersey.
Thank you for calling
to check up on him.
Signed,
J______ R_____
(J___’s mother)
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2009. All rights reserved.
1st of all
you never read
so why would you
ever have a book
in your hands
except to hide
your guilty mug
from me?
2nd of all
you’re holding a
crossword puzzle
book which requires
work which you
hate and a writing
instrument
which you never
have so why would
you be looking
through that?
So,
now that you have
my attention which
is all you really
wanted;
what are you doing here?
This is not a rhetorical question.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2009. All rights reserved.
On the same day
that the Large Hadron Collider
was turned on to peel away
the secrets of the universe
by smashing circling atoms
at near absolute zero
at nearly the speed of light
into each other
I had to listen to someone
tell me how Nostradamus
had predicted that this
day would come.
I explained that the Mayans knew it first.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2008. All rights reserved.
A hundred times a day
they come at me
exotic particles from
extra dimensions
from places I can’t imagine
where the gravity
of a mother’s laughter
doesn’t exist
in universes
where there are
no points of light
no bursting celebrations
against the darkness
but only constellations
of sorrow and bad choices
galaxies where black holes
are the safest place to be
far from a father’s belt
or worse still shielded
from the background radiation
left by the people
who lent their
dust to make you
A hundred times a day
I collide into the antimatter
Of, whatever…
Of, so what?
Of, leave me the fuck alone.
I collide and neutralize
With, here’s why
And, because it matters
And, as long as we are
both real and traveling
in the same space
at the same time
we will be drawn together
because opposites attract
and excite to the point
of explosion.
Just as before time
there was no other
because we were one,
now we leave traces
that verify the other’s existence.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2008. All rights reserved.
I think the laws
of mathematics
went awry when
I thought this was a song.
I think I found a dozen
angels disguised as
half-priced vegetables
that I brought home.
I think I’m popping in
and out of existence
more often nowadays
when I am left alone.
I went looking
for an apple yesterday
and came home
thinking of this poem.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
for anthony, et al.
“Hold on”,
I say to him
and he stops, alarmed.
“We’ve got to report this theft”,
I yell out loud
and he gets defensive.
Telling me he hasn’t taken anything,
I explain
that someone has stolen
his books,
his pens,
his notes,
and everything he needs to learn.
He laughs
believing I am joking,
and keeps on
walking late to class.
Without a pass.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
i said to the word
i will not speak you
you have no home in my breath
no translation in my language
i said i will not
give you form
i will not praise your name
but the word still won the game
© 2008 henry toromoreno
words with no names 