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The Man With Know Name |
I was at Philippe
in the restroom
in the stall, taking a piss
as I finished, I turn halfway
and there carved on the stall-
'Chaka'
'Chaka' - the King of the Los Angeles taggers
his name more commonplace than UPC barcodes
Chaka on billboards
Chaka on freeway signs
Chaka on buses
Chaka on overpasses
Chaka on walls
Chaka on park benches
Chaka on Nirvana's drum kit (?)
Chaka in phonebooths
Chaka at school
Chaka at church
Chaka in the elevator that Chaka went down in
from the courtroom where he was tried for vandalism
They should come out with a Chaka action-figure
complete with spray-can and marker.
For someone of otherwise limited means,
no-one has a more well-known name as his.
But is it his?
For when I think of Chaka, no person comes to mind except, perhaps, some faint recollection from a newsreel.
No, when I think of Chaka, I think of-
Chaka the billboard
Chaka the freeway sign
Chaka the bus
Chaka the overpass
Chaka the wall
Chaka the park bench
Chaka the drum kit
Chaka the phonebooth
Chaka the thing, the object
For he thing-a-fied himself
in trying to personify things with his name
Chaka, the irony.
copyright 2005
Gerard
Kuc |
