Saturn Bar Ghazal
Cid Galicia
USA
Saturn Bar Ghazal
-mod night dance party
my man, my man, peace love and granola are gonna be there tonight at the Saturn Bar.
where the steppin gonna be steppin and cracklin their jars tonight at the Saturn Bar.
Say Brotha, gotta be sticky– but you best dig me by far.
Tonight will be Slammin Radical and Stellar Bazaar–at the Saturn Bar.
Don’t give me those hairy eyeballs man! Be my Casanova Jive-Jar! Stone
Foxes, Momma Foxes, Brick House are gonna be at the Saturn Bar
Sounds Mad as Pound to The Max at that joint jiven they are.
Main features Sylvia and Rebecca are gonna star out tonight at the Saturn Bar
Have you seen them boogie down? Gonna be Confabbin at them real hard.
Gonna be Bogart Dreamin Out of Orbit with her in my arms– at the Saturn Bar.
No Stoak Tricken Snaps. Get Rebecca in your yard.
Square Biz Man You are. Better Copy My Sunshine at the Saturn Bar
I’ll be commanding that landing, Cid The Kid King of Them Quasars.
Wally Wally Blood and Dolly you and me are bein tonight at the Saturn Bar.
It. It. It. It. Rattlersnakes. It. It. It.
It. It. It. It. Prison And. it. It. It. It.
It. It. It. It. Razor Wire. it. It. It. It.
After the road to Angola
There’s a wren nesting in the razor wire.
-C.D.W.
I
Her cousin made it all the way to Los Angeles
but being raised by the same mother…also razor wire.
She finally got caught. Ended up at Mentone Prison in Pasadena.
You won’t find it, if you’re looking for it.
It. It. It. It. You won’t. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It.
It. It. It. It. Find it if you’re looking for it. It.
It. It. It. It. You won’t. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It.
It. It. It. It. Find it if you are not it. It. It. It.
II
Her story is long, given how young she is. I didn’t ask her.
Actually, I did. But it wasn’t the question I was going for.
So I don’t remember her response. It was the question
I was using to lead up to the question I was going for.
It. It. It. It. You won’t. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. Find it if you’re looking for it. It.
It. It. It. It. You won’t. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It.
It. It. It. It. Find it if you are not it. It. It. It.
A rattlesnake can bite up to 60 minutes after its
been decapitated that’s how long its reflexes remain
functional.
-C.D.W.
Cid Galicia is a Guest Contributor for Panorama.
Cid Galicia is a Mexican American poet who taught in New Orleans for over the past decade. He is currently in the final year of his MFA at the University of Nebraska/Omaha. Poetry editor for The Good Life Review, reader for The Kitchen Table Quarterly, and this year’s FIRECRACKER Poetry Awards. Recipient of the Richard Duggin Fellowship— demonstrated excellence in writing, runner-up for Academy of American Poets Helen W. Kenefick Poetry Prize, and nominated for Helen Hansen Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Work has appeared in Watershed Review, Elevation Review, Trestle Ties, South Broadway Press, and Roi Faineant Press. Excited to be attending the 2023 Residencies of Sundress Publications & The Kenyon Review. (@formal_poet).