Two Poems
Leave a commentMarch 16, 2011 by The Citron Review
by Desmond Kon
a choka is a littoral drift
of time, the interstitial –
of resisting, a soft wait
of normal things, amusement
the glassy voice here
feelings like a treble hook
to seat, bit of daub
feelings normative
like opening decisions
paving and stone-boiled
in this tide mill and foundry
each a cold moveable stage
and dimension stone
as with the luminous a senryu
avoidance, the void
closing in on its greening –
thick chasm, abyss
what lightning streaking
its line marking the night sky
what stroke of luck there?
a plain rephrasing
a platitude of truth claims
this language of signs
that language of gifts
one more decisive staging
of a smile and laugh
Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé is an invited speaker at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, Young Writers Seminar, and Emerging Writers & Performers Festival, among other speaking engagements. His work is also featured in the Synaesthesia Writer-Artist Exhibit at The Substation, with four new chapbooks this year from Firstfruits Publications, Ronin Press and Silkworms Ink. Trained in publishing at Stanford, with a theology masters from Harvard and fine arts masters from Notre Dame, Desmond has edited more than ten books and co-produced three audio books, several pro bono for non-profit organizations. A recipient of the Singapore Internationale Grant and Dr Hiew Siew Nam Academic Award, he has poetry and prose in over 120 literary journals, and placed in several international writing contests. Also working in clay, Desmond sculpts commemorative ceramics, his works housed in museums and private collections in India, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.