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