live inside out
for sou vai keng, after reading everybody has a pet
1
still clouds stir
every thinking thing
thinking wind thinking
nothing the heart of the matter
the heart of every thinking thing
pay no attention to that curtain
behind the man staring
rising clouds in the face of a day
shining in spite of itself
rise
and shine
beautiful lies
eyes
have it
motion carries
2
eyes slice through glass
tilt the head they
live in
questions
could stop anyone
cold love must be
love at first
sight
first
light
no
second
thought
no
time to waste
no
home or
nothing
doing
3
more likely than not
to stumble in the light
when you think
you can see
more than nothing
following a cat
you think following
the moon you think following
the earth you think following
the sun you think following
darkness
you follow your breathing
the cat follows whiskers
eyes closed to see
dark touching
every thing, every
step, this way and that
4
no sign of life
in salted fish
hung out to dry
they imagine I like the sun
smile knowing they are
in life, sure as I
sure as warm sun
has every last sunflower
5
empty cage,
life has taken
the bird
free
6
nicht ich, nicht
es, nothing
between
me and the mirror I
7
one dying
leaf dry
on a tree of life
dead center
in a garden we
abandoned years ago
8
god knows every soul
has gone supernova
at least once
scattered universes of stardust
9
everybody
knows
nothing
what it is
is altogether
slow, slow suicide
10
ghost on a tram
thinks herself
still
living
in a play of spirits
lighter than air
nobody there
but ghosts forgetting
themselves on the tram
11
death laughs last
possessed by nobody
never been
had
12
thinking of a god being
born, everyone thinks sure as
life of dying
13
it cannot be
denied
14
never mind
seeing everything
from any angle
makes over and over
again worth doing
to seem to have
something
to do
15
imagine
the hell of losing
heart, no wisdom in that
16
jonah never learned
to love the bloody city
the way a god loves
like a fool
making a fool
of himself
17
stop walking
still, a butterfly
18
no one lying
there, still
no cloud clinging
here, sky
imagine
19
doing nothing
nothing done
kill time, fill
space, empty
mind, make
way, empty,
feed your life
20
the play’s
the thing
words keep
longer than you think
21
no all to open,
all here, now
come in
22
I knew nobody
should have known
an ocean could draw me
wild wind waving
23
no one calling, play
live inside out
24
every child knows
rainbows
a thousand kisses deep
in time, never
forget to laugh
with every bubble
bursting on air
25
not a word, not
a thought, a painting
talks
26
lie still, no
mirror, no self
to see, we
tell stories to live
make every tomorrow
today, yesterday tomorrow
and tomorrow and tomorrow and get on with it
27
they say the old cannot kill the young forever
but they may die trying to save them
for safe lives smaller than they
ever thought possible
28
take, drink,
pluck blackberries
from common bushes burning
with one divine presence or another
leave your shoes behind,
rejoice in every purple stain, dance
golden traces of spilled tea and circles who share it
29
climbing, think
the way a mountain
thinks, no trace of a climber
30
they wouldn’t know
a tortoise if it bit them
on the nose
be quick, don’t rush
no race, no
win, slow
31
ink on paper
makes faces
makes us
laugh
32
a paper moon
over a cardboard sky
wouldn’t be make believe if...
33
take note of nothing
that matters
forget it
34
every part of every
whole moves
leaves
nothing alone
gentle blossoms
bloom without my seeming
35
not light,
darkness
dig?
36
every cat knows
birds are easy
in dreams
birds dream cats
to make them feel
like flying
37
walking past a restaurant
on a busy street, they’ll try
to tell you the smell of mushrooms
cooking stands for some thing
other, not the thing itself
take a deep breath
and tell me this is not
your childhood here, now
present in this place, in this flesh, holy
38
stay the night
to find the truth
and it will be
what you make of it
a glass slipper to forget
for every fairy godmother
you can imagine
39
imagine silence
under what has become
of the quiet place
you remember, there
40
how could I not believe
there is a full moon
lighting happy faces?
not lost, you make memory
present. I drink from your well
we fly
Steven Schroeder, Chicago
Sou Vai Keng. everybody has a pet. Association of Stories in Macao, 2009. ISBN 978-99937-972-5-8.
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