This poem is the main part of my extramural project. I've posted this on Blackboard as well, along with a meta-text or commentary.
And there is a slide show that I presented in class.
You can also access these three elements of the project below:
world seen from a bicycle
riding roads south of Chiang Mai
by the flooding Mae Ping
every place has a spirit house
each home and store and plot of land
tucked near the road
the gleaming new, the tumbledown:
white-washed, stone, or peeling-paint-ed;
golden-hued, flower-strewn,
full of little statue-people
demi-gods & warriors;
elephants & chariots
incense, candy: offerings
in a corner energy hovers, shimmering, but
on the roads bright life holds sway:
deep black Greater Coucal
with rich russet back
Red-whiskered Bulbul with tangerine coverts
Mynahs, Mynahs everywhere
they are the starlings of Thailand
mostly Common but so many
species we might see
Crested, Jungle, Hill, White-vented,
Javan, Collared, Golden-crested;
black splashed bright with
orange and white.
Doves... before I left home
riding up the west side highway along the Hudson
alone atop a double-decker bus
melting in the sun
drying in the breeze
going dead-head from Battery to Times Square
a flash across the road
a belly: cream, tinged tawny rose
tilted in flight to show
the warm, soft, mouse-fur grey-brown back
moist purple-chocolate spots
rounded form but slender slight; delicate, elegant,
diagnose a Mourning Dove.
Here are many doves. One similar to our Mourning
but all exaggerated: smaller and more streamlined,
more spots becoming mottle-stripes:
the Oriental Turtle-Dove
seen on roads & bushes & overhead wires & oddly
in cages, cooing at cousins
who walk oblivious down the road
a Cinnamon Bittern rises from the paddy;
settles slowly in the trees
butterflies abound
pale cold-butter-yellow ones small as a thumbnail
stay close to the ground—less turbulence
among the low-growing flowers perhaps
tiger-colored swallowtails
who walk oblivious down the road
a Cinnamon Bittern rises from the paddy;
settles slowly in the trees
butterflies abound
pale cold-butter-yellow ones small as a thumbnail
stay close to the ground—less turbulence
among the low-growing flowers perhaps
tiger-colored swallowtails
weave a drunken course through trees
deep purple velvet pair—a hand's-breadth each—
dance a complex minuet in the road
another of conventional size,
deep purple velvet pair—a hand's-breadth each—
dance a complex minuet in the road
another of conventional size,
black & palest-lavender-white
hangs inverted, twirling slowly,
perfectly splayed as if pinned
in a Victorian curio, from a spider's well-placed
invisible web.
dragonflies, some the size of
hangs inverted, twirling slowly,
perfectly splayed as if pinned
in a Victorian curio, from a spider's well-placed
invisible web.
dragonflies, some the size of
hummingbirds (or perhaps not quite)
in varying tones of earth and light
from deep rich scarlet
of just-spilled blood to warm rust brown to
surprising incandescent chartreuse
follow down the road, confounding the sense
from deep rich scarlet
of just-spilled blood to warm rust brown to
surprising incandescent chartreuse
follow down the road, confounding the sense
of distance and of size:
perspective
Certain, quite certain, I saw the stripy belly of a Cuckoo
perspective
Certain, quite certain, I saw the stripy belly of a Cuckoo
half-hidden among the leaves
so many species of Cuckoo so common so many
places I've been & sought them
and heard them, but never a sure
sighting to tick off on the life-list. Passed
a sign: skystone storm forest home
a legend, myth, fairy-tale place right here
who lives there?
a Drongo, I think I saw, with three long tail-
feather shafts; a squarish pendant on
the shorter, center one. Certain of what I saw,
but it's not in the book. So much for certainty.
Never ever rely upon your certainty.
Bright new temples and old ones made new
every entrance flanked by twinned
Nagas, the chaos-serpent-guardians;
some garish to my eye (accustomed to
so many species of Cuckoo so common so many
places I've been & sought them
and heard them, but never a sure
sighting to tick off on the life-list. Passed
a sign: skystone storm forest home
a legend, myth, fairy-tale place right here
who lives there?
a Drongo, I think I saw, with three long tail-
feather shafts; a squarish pendant on
the shorter, center one. Certain of what I saw,
but it's not in the book. So much for certainty.
Never ever rely upon your certainty.
Bright new temples and old ones made new
every entrance flanked by twinned
Nagas, the chaos-serpent-guardians;
some garish to my eye (accustomed to
the gloomy romance of old
gothic stone) fresh white paint
mirrored tiles: clear, blue, green, red
gilded dragons overhead
on eaves and balustrades
tinkling bells hang from corners of broad
roofs but there are delicate carved-wood doors &
one's extensive muraled walls
tells stories: the devouring giant,
emerald green; the saving giant bird,
rose-gold, driving down the sky with gods
on its back and
who, by vanquishing, saves.
the temples accommodate, encompass,
what comes before and around them
the spirit houses are not Buddhist but the temples
have them and
sometimes the spirit houses
have spirit houses
gothic stone) fresh white paint
mirrored tiles: clear, blue, green, red
gilded dragons overhead
on eaves and balustrades
tinkling bells hang from corners of broad
roofs but there are delicate carved-wood doors &
one's extensive muraled walls
tells stories: the devouring giant,
emerald green; the saving giant bird,
rose-gold, driving down the sky with gods
on its back and
who, by vanquishing, saves.
the temples accommodate, encompass,
what comes before and around them
the spirit houses are not Buddhist but the temples
have them and
sometimes the spirit houses
have spirit houses
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