Macao/Hong Kong/Shenzhen

1

on a road
you think you know

sidewalks go
nowhere.

sudden absences leave us
walking in traffic.

to take our minds
off the narrow margin

between the curb
and every passing car

we imagine ourselves
one of them.

we pass two dogs
lounging near an open gate.

when they rise behind us
in the corner of our eyes

we see one smiling
at the thought of making us

jump before he
barks once on our heels.

dogs grow larger
margins grow smaller

and, unsure of their intentions
as they are of ours,

unwilling now
to struggle for turf,

we turn back at last
before we arrive

at the beach you were sure is
somewhere on this road

later, still walking on earth, you
realize you lost your butterfly

earrings somewhere
on the way.

2

In Central, where people
walk every day without once
putting their feet on the ground, I
wonder if they imagine us walking, lost.

3

On the same day in another city
altogether, we wander slowly through
a long talk on cracks in neo-

liberal cities where artists live.
A friend of friends says
strong German beer
has made her dizzy and I look

like Marx. I imagine
to change the world is a matter
simpler than interpreting it, hope

you are home dreaming butterflies
who do it without thinking
every time they move a wing.