by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé
like latin translations, they quarry the pits
of pasts written into power; but today, the dream of jerome
fathers me into watching words, into watching
what walls, what beholds, what ends
the dream like the flame he extinguished
like the book closed but unclasped, the skull rolled
into its right brain, the dream:
that red parisian hat that woman left behind
after she unleashed its twine and let drop her hair;
jerome’s underbite reveals two lower teeth
the skull beside him baring two incisors;
his head is throbbing with blue veins
like lightning dreams, bolts behind clouds and rain;
this room is sheeted like so too, into strips, into strips
like death marching all our objects into queues
these we bury with us or cremate to forget
like dreams; like dreams, the crucifix –
it has none of the red, of peonies or all he wears or the sliver
dreamy sliver of string tethering caps onto ink pots;
I am similarly tethered like that copper crow
it spouts nothing boiling in that kettle
bronze dish beneath;
must we empty out all life in death? like dreams?
the birdcage wrought as is the muslin
hiding things or the emerald table varnished over in black
such blacks are unreal; they hide wealth
and the secret geometry of scholars but jerome is a dream
transfixed, he gazes at marcello venusti’s oils behind me;
he should look out his granite window
into limestone dreams behind him: the tree that lives
courting swans, flock of sheep, and the couple in love
and bridges covered in carpet grass
a mongrel in mid-dash, two carriages
and so many more buildings hiding more rooms
so many more buildings than his own
with his things, his dreams too;
how can we ever know of all these intimate things?
there is a white cross near the bridge, separated
by a low fence; it seems to be made from an old oak
the dead mulberry tree beside it, its bark already ashen
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé has edited more than ten books and co-produced three audio books. The titles span the genres of ethnography, journalism, creative nonfiction, and poetry, several edited pro bono for non-profit organizations including Sok Sabay Cambodia, Riding for the Disabled Association, and the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. Previously an entertainment and lifestyle journalist, Desmond has traveled to Australia, France, Hong Kong and Spain for his stories, culminating in the authorship of the limited edition Top Ten TCS Stars for Caldecott Publishing. Trained in book publishing at Stanford University, with a theology masters (world religions) from Harvard University and fine arts masters (creative writing) from the University of Notre Dame, he is the recipient of the Hiew Siew Nam Academic Award, and Singapore Internationale Grant, with his poetry and fiction appearing in nine chapbooks, various anthologies, and over 140 literary journals. An interdisciplinary artist, Desmond also works in clay, his ceramic works housed in museums and private collections in India, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.
Last updated May 31, 2011