Kowloon Kundalini Poem by doug bentley

kowloon.
fluorescent snake

coiling round
shrimp soaked sea

folded and poised
to greet or strike:


lines
of uniformly dressed

schoolchildren
reciting by rote

words
of long-dead poet:


chopped
linguistic industry

of cantonese buzz-
no time to tense

place for preposition
or cause to conjunct:


an old woman
performing morning

t'ai chi
grips iron sword

serpenthead
handle, bread knife

meticulously slicing air
with finely calculated sweep