Tag Archives: H32

Richard Tice – USA (PJ32)

Posted on by

dental drill —
the doctor hums
a country tune

when I’m 64
turns out
she still feeds me

War Gaming: Hobby or Habit 

Then:
toy cannons
firing ladyfingers
at plastic soldiers —
Mom asks us to take
the battle outside

Now:
Refight World War II hour by hour. Choose among sixty-four countries. Pick political leaders and generals. Build your economy through trade and construction. Create a military juggernaut. Practice diplomacy — or not. Read the instruction manual several times to even begin to play.

dinnertime —
too busy taking Paris
with Panzergruppe 1

BACK to Issue

John Zheng – USA (PJ32)

Posted on by

curfew
rats roam
the streets

quarantine
more cars
at win job center

Two Notes on Language Awareness

The cruise ship sails upriver through the Qutang Gorge. Bored to death, John steps out of his cabin and leans on the gunwale to see the towering mountain peaks and cloudscapes. A few steps away, a young man, whose black hair has been dyed golden brown, is taking pictures of his girlfriend who poses with a slight smile. Printed on the back of his t-shirt is a Trojan ad in English.

“Do you speak English?”
asks the cop. “No!” answers
the handcuffed man

Reaction

In a filling station in the catfish capital of Belzoni, Mississippi, a man waits impatiently and mumbles outside the men’s room, “Usually women stay in there that long. How can a man stay in there long?” Standing behind him are two other men waiting to relieve their bladders.

shopping season
mannequins in new fashion
along each aisle
their eggshell faces
cold and cool

winter valley what i see is not what i’ve dreamed
BACK to Issue

David Graham – USA (PJ32)

Posted on by

Pain Believer

For a moment this morning, before I put on my glasses, I thought the aspirin bottle on the counter read “Pain Believer.” Which is exactly what I am, I suppose, especially as I age. Creaky knees and aching feet; stiff back, cataract-dimming eyes. It’s true I find my eyes as well as my joints steadily less reliable. And in fact I don’t much remember life before eyeglasses. But I do recall with prophetic sharpness the moment when the eye doctor slipped that first pair over my ears, then lifted the window shade. “Look out as far as you can,” he instructed. “What do you notice?”

I could barely answer. The world’s beautiful blur suddenly lovely in a whole new way. Distant trees, clothes lines, road signs all snapped into focus. Objects assumed individual identities. I could see single leaves trembling in the light breeze. But it was a strong wind blowing over me from then on, and delicious. I leaned hard into it.

tree limbs creak
against each other
in april wind

BACK to Issue