Eyes like glowing coals;
tongue like a shriveled patty.
Nose like a dripping sponge.
A bearded vendor selling
slices of watermelon to lurid courtesans
in chiffon dresses and to executives who
speed away in their BMW’s.
Bent and deformed children
slobbering over ice cream
cones while regal lords sit
waxen in their gem studded carriages.
A fat cook barbecuing
steaks in the shade of his
trailer tossing scraps […]
In Dressing Room 4
he shields brawn and bravado
laces up testosterone
tugs it tight around the ankles
steadies his manhood
for the colossal endeavor
he rehearses the play
eyeballs angles, then
tames the frozen glass
with blazing, furious strides,
lights the charge against the roaring crowd
with fury, with passion,
rushes boards blades slicing ice scraping to a climax
stopping
just in time
fathers convulse wildly
cowbells waving savage
scheming mothers […]
crow
on a black metal table
outside the cafe
she stumbles
catches herself looks around
and spits on her shoe
freshly cut grass –
but the edges are the same
a piece of paper
at the edge of the old pond
my boots leaning
against each other–
still dusty
~ Allan Brown
Allan Brown’s AB’s twenty-second volume of poetry, One Way or Another, is forthcoming from Rubicon Press.
Read more […]
You never asked why, or how I found your village
despite not knowing its name or the alarming language
I heard while walking towards you.
It was the map you drew, years before,
in that rented room off Lang Suan
You had arrived on an overnight bus
doubtful as Bangkok morning sky
till your fingers retraced the indelible route
to a point on […]
