Two Poems | Rodrigo Toscano

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2 mins read

Humanity (a loose brick)


Dislodged a brick
from the cathedral
of Salamanca Humanism

—that was dodgy—

Took that brick home
put it on the mantle
stuffed it in the closet

—that was freaky—

Then took the brick back
reinstated that brick
when no one was looking

—that was sneaky—

And posted a photo reel
in the cathedral
with everybody looking

—that was cheeky—

Then lined up the words
justitia, clementia
dignitas, abundantia

—that was geeky—

And extrapolated
the governing concept
c o n v i v e n c i a 

—that was ballsy—

Then transmogrified   
the cathedral itself
into a black cat

—that was crafty—

The cat then pranced
all over town
nipping at hopes

—that was frisky—


Humanity (a sort of shape)


Because shaped-like-thats
can give hugs
to shaped-like-thats

And because
shaped-like-thats can hug
not-shaped-like-thats

And also because
shaped-like-that’s are also
not-shaped-like-thats

And because also
not-shaped-like-thats
are also shaped-like-that’s

It’s a Huggie House
of shapes upon shapes
sorta shaping up

They had a sort of shape about them!
That people can say
They were shapely

Rodrigo Toscano is a poet and dialogist based in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest books are The Cut Point (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence, 2022). His Collapsible Poetics Theater was a National Poetry Series selection. His poetry has appeared in over 20 anthologies, including Best American Poetry and Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX). Toscano has received a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. He won the Edwin Markham 2019 prize for poetry. His previous books include In Range, Explosion Rocks Springfield, Deck of Deeds, Collapsible Poetics Theater (a National Poetry Series selection), To Leveling Swerve, Platform, Partisans, and The Disparities. He works for the Labor Institute in conjunction with the United Steelworkers, the National Institute for Environmental Health Science on educational training projects that involve environmental and labor justice culture transformation. You can find him online at rodrigotoscano.com.