composed while waiting for NYU Shanghai Poetry Workshop students to return from their algorithmic walks, June 17, 2018
Familiar broken path off through traffic inside office
chatter stuccoed dapples out a porte-fenêtre hey 你說呢 !
Fish tank on asphalt in front of guard booth
blue guard white light golden fish purple shadow green algae black mold
Whosoever has the job of gardener, hedge-
trimmer—endless blessings
Kunqu opera scenes on endless loop & smoking bao an
at my back, guarding what’s important I guess
Garden Villa 54 Shaoxing Lu
Gentle May air—as if last week’s pollution
were mere earth
American Sycamore London Plane French Parasol bark, wau wau
Wutong Tree 汪汪, Phoenix Tree, bow wow wow
scattered with white paint & Teddy pee
Perfect abstract torn sheet metal
exhaust fan cowlings like wasp nests in polished concrete
Old dog bad hips tail wag good dog watching
bored surveillance camera observe Deco turret
Kunqu opera advert, butterfly, blue
lilies, heavy Deco scene in Rotoscope (1935)
Cercle de la police, foyer du marin & du soldat
Now a Model Unit
School lets out
a breaking algorithm
Acupuncture anesthesia Shanghai Literature Institution
of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Can’t cheat it because it’s not natural
so the cheat expects it like bookies do
And what do we squares expect to come of it all?
Edible gold & a green plum in black Ethiopian cold brew
