Andrew felt I was there !fresh cheers
'Balham gateway to the south has a local ring for me
patrick
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of andrew burke
Sent: 30 August 2006 15:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Snap: Linfen through te senses
First - sight
is overused
but here humans
crowd into frame
like a scene from an Asian
Biblical epic
and language screams
off sign after sign
of big bold Chinese characters
when it's not defunct
Disney characters on
sheets and towels
t-shirts and jeans .
But taste:
'not spicy' we yell,
'hold the chillies'
They burn us anyway
lips tongues throat
noodles swimming
in soup,
a fish flaking
in boiling water -
Chinese peach
crunchy as a potato,
tasty as grapes
off the vine.
Sound off!
Where's the
Volume knob?!
Fireworks, goddamn,
6 am or 10pm -
they drown out
the coalmine explosions
as a first year music student
practises his sax
and the American
upstairs blasts out
Righteous Bros
and car horns
truck horms
van horns
scooter horns
beep blast and honk
dawn to dusk.
Hold your noses!
We're going down the street
where they've pissed
and thrown out
their washing water
soapsuds and leftover noodles
The pavement sags
and your feet open
the sewer smells
as you move
the slabs - it's
a good thing when
you only smell
the sulphur in the air
it cleanses
the nostrils .
And when you
walk on a loose tile
the ground flips
squirty brown juice
up the back of
your sandaled ankle.
When you stop for traffic
strangers touch you
to see if that white skin
is real . and
rain dribbles off
the edge of
awnings and umbrellas
right down
your neck .
you are
damp all day
and all night
your skin
itches from
mosquito bite.
Linfen - To quote Peter Sellers,
'Time has passed by this remote little village -
And so shall we.'
--
Andrew
http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
http://www.bam.com.au/andrew
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