Abecedarian For The Poet 

A gingko leaf rots in my lips,

Betwixt my fish tongue. I whale hymns,

Clutter books in my arteries like piano keys. I’m waiting for

Daedalus to watch, my perfect

Elegy of dusty and beautiful sentiments. I denigrate my own

Facilities at the club for a pint of

Grass. The bartender hollers

Happiness is evil! And I clap ferociously, though

I know light is good.

Jesters and prostitutes are acrylic

Kings of the court. But when the sun yolks, we

Liquify to darkness. My hair splits cockroach legs.

Man always stands before

Nature wasted as a heap of sticks. I’m a child again,

Oafish to temptation. For a second, I

Pretend the world is good and I see

Quiet.

Rabbits hop playfully into seeds,

Sieved through Hainan mud. I rest neath a

Tamarind tree, tracing light spots and pink. Meimei strums

Ukelele, Mama boils tea. I boil my fatigue into clouds

Valleying the sky. Papa’s hand firm on my shoulder,

Wolfs encouragement and bait.

Existence equips meaning and lack of,

Yearning for art. Decades from Hua xia, I still

Yield to red dirt. I soap foreign newspapers, wish for coriander,

Zero my history until my four winds chime

Zephyr songs.