~
“Curiously, there are no known migration legends in Chamorro lore …”
—Robert Tenorio Torres
from Pre-Contact Marianas Folklore, Legends, and Literature
~
when it is 2 pm here, it is 8 am the next day there—
to mark the precise location of—remember just
when dad tied an old tire to a metal pole of the wire fence
so brian and i could practice pitching—the hollow
sound when the baseball strikes the tire rubber—
the rattling sound when the ball strikes the wire
fence echo—but when the ball strikes the pole
through the middle of the tire that’s the sound
i can’t remember when it is 4 pm here it is 10 am
the next day there—i played little league
for the barrigada tigers black and gold
uniforms but i can’t smell the dirt when
it is 11am there it is 5pm the day before here—
the large cooler filled with ice and red
hawaiian punch—riding in the bed of dad’s truck
after games on the drive home listening
to american songs on the radio when
it is 6 pm here it is 12 pm the next day there—
how do i know if [we]’ve sailed beyond sight
of land, of once known world, of natural
starting point when it is 7 pm here is it
still the next day there?—brian played baseball
for father duenas memorial high school and dad
was the coach—maroon and gold uniforms—
remember just my poster of the “bash brothers,”
wondering what “oakland” was—”in california”
dad said, near where brian went for college, near
san francisco, where renee—when [we]
are here it is the next day there—on weekends
mom took us to hafa books and brian and i
could choose one pack of baseball cards each—
[we] kept the cards in a box under the bed—
the special cards in plastic binder sheets—i carried
the cards with us to california when [we] are here, will i
forget about there?—remember just finding brian’s “easton” bag
when [we] were packing, his bat, glove, a few baseballs,
in the dusty corner of the laundry room—still
dirt in the seams—did [we] bring those things with us when
it is 1 am here it is 7 pm the same day there—
and then i saw what “oakland” was after [we] moved—
the first american league game [we] attended—
the field felt like was an island, with dad and brian
surrounded by an ocean of people, of America—
did the “A’s” win or lose?—the green
and gold uniforms—when brian first moved here
[we] were still living there—he was eighteen hours behind us
and twelve hours, by flight, away—remember just
dad’s army fatigues—the rifle from vietnam
he kept under the bed—the only time i remember him
taking it out was when someone tried to break
into our house and dad chased him away—he
carried the rifle with us to california—remember
just going to paseo padre park as a kid, mom and dad
would walk around the stadium for exercise,
talking with friends and relatives—i would run,
and, if i ran fast enough, past the walkers and joggers, through
the trade winds, i would eventually find my parents,
lap them, when it is 6 am here it is 12 pm the
same day there—remember just the timetable that mom
made after [we] moved, posted on the fridge—remember
just the first day i joined cross-country in the first year
of my new high school in california—
five thousand nautical
miles
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones