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.