Scout & Birdie
Scout & Birdie
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English

I met Don Juan four years ago in the alley behind an Oxxo

We became best friends because his girlfriend was “crazy”

I read him Hamlet while he does push-ups

Pressing into the floor because he’s Superman

I say

“You can move the Earth”

On the way down he looks up,

“So can you.”

The universe is indifferent

like Mercury in retrograde

The world will settle and forget

When she deletes Facebook.

It’s all goosebumps and goofy

When you never knew someone.

The loveliest sentiment

Calm

Like rain

In a green plastic bucket

And I’m looking for your eyes

“...your coffee is so tasty...

...I’m almost done with it...

...I’m so sad I’m done with it...”

“...sometimes...

...someone who does not have children...

...doesn’t understand...

...the dynamics of young people...

...I remember your dad...

...he was distant...

...he was never around young people...

...his- lack of...”

...

 

O’ Captain my Crunch!

You’re on the balcony talking about your dreams.

You are sipping from the goddamn Gathering of Waters.

 

Wading against its muddy stripes.

Tied in a windsor knot

That is pressed for the march.

Warm,

Like church,

And microphones when the power was on.

O’ Captain my Kink!

I am deep in the Hollies, in the Rolling stone radio.

In the draw of a Harmonica, in all its respect.

I fell asleep on the toilet with my head between my knees.

Sort of like rock n’ roll did when looking back at the blood moon, from the backseat in

Dallas Texas, after taking a shot or six in the kitchen

the family danced.

O’ captain my Keith, Richard, and Malcolm Smothered X’s all over the T.V.

Riding Storms in his sleep, living in America,

It's where Marvin drove to Motown,

It's where Paul the dreamer forgot his shoes in the car.

It's where my pen pal howled at the great White Whale built by slaves.

“...and one of the greatest things...

...about wisdom...

...about knowledge...

...about preparation...

...it gives you the possibility...

...to relate in better ways...

...with every kind of person...

...you can talk with street vendors...

...and take from them the natural wisdom they have...

...and you can talk to the highest intellectual...

...to whom you won’t understand a thing...

...but you’ll learn from them too.”

 

“...one day...

...Lupita, the teacher...

...told them...

...babies are inside their mom’s belly...

 

...and Adrian said no...

...babies come from the vagina...”

...

I know you.

I’ve always known you.

I’ve known your flannel and your eyes like I know what time the sun will set.

Tell me I’m not a fucking badass.

Tell me I’m not the greatest thing that existed.

I dare you America.

I dare you to try me again.

Español

Conocí a don Juan hace cuatro años en el callejón detrás de un Oxxo

Nos hicimos amigos porque me dijo que su novia estaba loca

Don Juan hace lagartijas mientras yo le leo Hamlet

Él aplasta el suelo porque es como Superman

Le digo:

“Tú puedes mover la Tierra”

Él me mira mientras sube y me dice:

“Tú también.”

El universo es indiferente

como Mercurio retrógrado

El mundo se calmará y se olvidará de todo

cuando ella borre su Facebook.

Todo es risas y diversión

cuando no conoces a alguien.

El sentimiento más bello

calma

como la lluvia

en una cubeta de plástico verde

Y yo estoy buscando tus ojos.

“... está muy bueno tu cafecito...

...ya casi me lo acabo...

...siento mucho acabármelo...”

“...a veces...

...una persona que no tiene hijos...

...no entiende...

...las dinámicas de los jóvenes...

...yo lo veía sabes con quién, con tu papá...

...estuvo distante...

...y además nunca convivió nunca con jóvenes...

...su- su falta de...”

...

 

O’ Captain my Crunch!

You’re on the balcony talking about your dreams.

You are sipping from the goddamn Gathering of Waters.

 

Wading against its muddy stripes.

Tied in a windsor knot

That is pressed for the march.

Warm,

Like church,

And microphones when the power was on.

O’ Captain my Kink!

I am deep in the Hollies, in the Rolling stone radio.

In the draw of a Harmonica, in all its respect.

I fell asleep on the toilet with my head between my knees.

Sort of like rock n’ roll did when looking back at the blood moon, from the backseat in

Dallas Texas, after taking a shot or six in the kitchen

the family danced.

O’ captain my Keith, Richard, and Malcolm Smothered X’s all over the T.V.

Riding Storms in his sleep, living in America,

It's where Marvin drove to Motown,

It's where Paul the dreamer forgot his shoes in the car.

It's where my pen pal howled at the great White Whale built by slaves.

“...y una de las ventajas enormes...

...de la sabiduría...

...del conocimiento...

...de la preparación...

...es que te da la posibilidad...

...de relacionarte de mejor manera...

...con cualquier tipo de gente...

...puedes hablar con un vendedor en un mercado...

...y extraer de él la sabiduría natural que traen...

...y puedes hablar con el más alto intelectual...

...al cual le vas a entender casi nada de lo que dice...

...pero vas a aprender de él también...”

 

“...y una vez...

...Lupita, la maestra, que era otra cursi...

...les dijo...

...los bebés están en la pancita de la mamá...

 

...y Adrián dijo, no...

...los bebés salen por la vagina de la mamá...”

...

Te conozco

Siempre te he conocido

Conozco tu camisa de franela y tus ojos como conozco el momento en el que saldrá el sol.

Dime que no soy un chingón.

Dime que no soy lo mejor que ha existido en el mundo.

Te reto, Estados Unidos.

Te reto a probarme de nuevo.

 

Quotes on italics spoken by Sebastián’s mother and grandmother.

 

About the artists...

Sebastián Jiménez-Galindo is an interdisciplinary artist born in Mexico City. Stemming from literature and theatre, his artistic intention comes from utilizing the language of film and theatre to convey a vision of the present as an inevitable contradiction between the past and the future, the internal vision and the external world, dreams and waking life. Said point of contradiction, surreality, is thus, for him, the only conclusion to which art making soars towards. Art, or magic, if you prefer, can only be a combination of language and imagination.

 

David Stobbe is a local Chicago actor with a deep love for language. Writing was never something he considered and through solo performance, and more classical works, he found himself writing poetry. He draws inspiration from writer's of the beatnik generation, as well as the lost generation. He hopes to people through the absurdity of what we hold onto, and the generation that is wedged between no technology and the huge shift into a world where lives were suddenly run by it. 

Want to see more of David's work?

Check out his piece, Yelp, from our First Impressions issue and his piece Hi-Fi and Diet Coke from our Roots issue!