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| In der Wildnis - In the Wilderness 29 x 29 cm - pastel by Karin Goeppert |
ORIENT
ESPRESSO
It’s hot
and wet, water dripping
from palm
leaves, thought as dull as the glint
in a water
buffalo’s stupefied eye
Mekong
Delta, Kandahar, Sunni Triangle
reflected
therein when you are knee deep in
one of Uncle
Sam’s disasters or have just enough luck
to be smoking
a joint alongside the Ganges
while some private
first-class grunt
crawls
through the elephant grass
there’s
always someone who’s had the runs since ’68
and could really
use a shower
and some
tapioca pudding too and
a little
R&R, perhaps, China Beach for the grunts and Goa
for the
spiritual type whose knees hurt from prolonged
meditation,
and the fragrance of fabric softener
on a summer
morning in Des Moines—that would be nice, too.
