Monday, July 9, 2007

Petals on a wet black garbage bag #1: a poem

Petals on a wet black garbage bag
Containing the partially cremated remains of the Emperor
            Liu Shang, inventor of Shantung Chicken and
            Laughing-Duck brand MSG-free black bean sauce.
I am spinning, spinning
Through the long-stay caravan park of your heart,
            one thousand years after
Civilisation has crumbled away, leaving only
Rusting recreational vehicles and empty
            whopper-with-cheese wrappers
Denuded now of mayonnaise and ketchup, drifting like
Factory-assembled tumbleweeds, manufactured in Malaysia
            to high precision standards
            mandated by head office in Zurich.
The Korean yuppie cannot order coffee in Starbucks
            because his voice has been degraded by karaoke
            and oral sex. Also this:
When you gargle La Marsellaise with a hang-over,
            is it because you secretly believe yourself
            to be descended from the French pirate Jean Lafitte
            or because you once saw
            Francois Mitterand peeking at the
            special bumper Autumn issue of
            Home Beautiful in an airport lounge in Cleveland?




3 comments:

Tim said...

Beautiful, man.

TimT said...

A beautiful poem, man. Beautiful. *Sniffs*

It gets me right there...

hazelblackberry said...

Ezra would be proud.