and go completely mad
cartwheels flip the business
it's speaking backwards
throws the body overboard
from legend to history
from history to story
from story to poetry
river ferry back and forth
dragon boat festival
any day now gone forever
full bellies emptied minds
what's a politician
the fish never cared
I sometimes forget that all of you don't live around the corner from my dump in Shanghai. Today is Dragon Boat Festival, happily celebrated by the Chinese community around the world. Here it is a public holiday, which seems enough for the Chinese here. Customary to eat Zongzi, a smallish triangular glutinous rice snack with either sweet red bean or savoury pork inside it, wrapped in bamboo leaves. Actually not bad. But carries far too much cultural weight. Sometimes lacks imagination.
ReplyDeletejust one more wafer thin slice, monsieur?
ReplyDeleteI'll have a pork one! It reads beautifully aloud, just like the bang and cymbals of the dragon/lion train/boat
ReplyDeleteGreat poem Rob ... but now I'm intrigued by the Zongzi. I'll have a red bean one if they're doing the rounds of the poets - especially the ones with two bucks in the bank :))
ReplyDelete