poetry

American underneath

American underneath

in Singapore I realize
the great raft of western goods
the currents shipping lanes trading routes
have pushed into this harbor
surely includes my favorite underwear

amazingly I easily secure one new
turquoise-grey-and-white striped pair
to offset the blue-and-green-polka-dot ones
that just this week succumbed to a small extra hole
victims of the rigors of handwashing and wringing

despite the changes in diet language attire greetings
for now
I’m blessed to keep
familiar underthings

poetry

manufacturing nature

manufacturing nature

it is necessary
Singaporeans feel
to move water from the sea
stack it in a column
high in the air
then let it thunder down
into a vortex
ringed by Burger Kings
and Prada shops
and to build grotesque metal trees
with flashing lights
broadcasting Disney show tunes

poetry

body language

body language

not knowing their words
I read people better
their actions and attitudes
all I can gauge
in a moment
I have taken their pulse

intelligible words
pouring out of a mouth
distract from the telling
twitch of the lips
clarity of gaze
steadiness of hand
that simmer to make
savoriness of character

in English we dismissively say
intuition
gut feeling
impression
as if it’s misleading
at best a guess
not the sum total
of generations of watching
what people do
when not telling the truth

poetry

Jalak Bali

Owen took these photos.

Jalak Bali

until I saw it
against sky
I thought its whiteness a liability
its blue face gaudy

but up in the canopy
it dissolves into air
insubstantial as cloud
as embedded in the
broad blue canvas
as leafbird is to tree
disappearing like
siang supplants pagi
and sore whisks away siang

you never know
who beauty might save

poetry

on inadvertently failing to write

on inadvertently failing to write

the * in the record book
imperfection makes us real
fallible human distracted

why is it that I
didn’t sing the day last night?
so many reasons
with so little merit

it is what it is
keep calm and
as Cedar would say
be awesome