combat normality

 

DESTINY & DESTINATION

 

EIGHT POEMS

by

Suchoon Mo
Pueblo West, Colorado, USA

 

 

 

FLOWERS IN THE CEMETERY
(after Ko Un)

Flowers come
To the cemetery

Flowers die
In the cemetery

No memorials
For flowers
In the cemetery

Not even in the cemetery

 

 

SANTOKA'S SHADOW
two mantras

1. Into the mountain
He went
Never to return

Deep into the mountain
He went
Never to return

Deep into the green mountain
He went
Never to return

2. The road
To a crematorium

The empty road
To a crematorium

The nearby empty road
To a crematorium

 

 

FORTUNE COOKIES

in the night of winter blizzard
a man and woman sat
in silence
across a table
in a chinese restaurant
sharing the misfortune
of eating fortune cookies
together

 

 

CRUCIFIXION STORY

divine weather
naked under the sun
such a beautiful body
at the end of his tether

he wept and cried
why did you forsake me ?
why did you ?

why ?

they died together

 

 

SOPRANO IN THE SHOWER

She is singing
the water is warm

She is screaming
the water is cold

She is cursing
no water

 

 

I AM TOO STUPID

Please hear me

I am too stupid to make
sense out of nonsense
something out of nothing
meaning out of meaninglessness

Therefore I am making
nonsense out of sense
nothing out of something
meaninglessness out of meaning

I am a good man
who does not know
what a good man is.

 

 

ESCAPE

I met her
in the world of street lights
red and green
her blinking eyes
red lips
dark shoes
white legs

The moon was invisible
neon signs irrational
faces shapeless
sex wore perfume
libido made up
Thanatos lurked
lust smiled
with white teeth

Let us go
now
We fled
chased by nobody
followed by nothing.

 

 

DESTINY AND DESTINATION

1.

I have no inspiration
it has expired

I used to have a theory
about something
or something else
it drifted away

I have no need of enlightenment
or awakening
or nirvana

wisdom is a fraud
once spoken or understood
or practiced

2.

a stray dog
or a stray woman
or a stray shadow
may follow me
my destiny
has no destination
my destination
has no destiny

3.

time is not what
time is when
now is now
now is just now
one day passes one day per day
one second passes one second per second
one day is just one day
one second is just one second
time is not speed limit

4.

I am here and now
that does make no difference
I am not here and not now
that does make no sense
ultimate truth is not true

tomorrow and yesterday
they may dance together
until today is gone
or will never come

5.

I am indifferent
to comedy or tragedy
life is neither a drama nor an opera
I have no need of a stage

6.

I am real

 

FOUR POEMS FROM

FROG MANTRA

Accents Publishing

 

A MIRACLE

when a dog runs backward
it is god
when a dog smiles
it is a miracle

when a dog runs backward smiling
you'd better start praying
or stop drinking

 

 

THE SOUND OF CIVILIZATION

the sound of two cats fucking
is the sound of our civilization

sadly this is my conclusion
it is sad because cats are not sad at all

the sound of one hand clapping
is the sound of our civilization

sadly this is my conclusion
it is sad because he lost his hand in the war

 

 

HE WENT TO HIS OWN FUNERAL

he woke up
dressed
brushed his teeth
drank a cup of coffee
and went to the church
it was his own funeral
I never saw him since
they must have buried him

 

 

SHUT UP!

upon the roof of a funeral home
a little bird sings

hey you
hey you
hey you you you

shut up!
a mortician says
to a corpse

 

 

A GENTLEMAN

of course
I am a gentleman

I remove my hat
before I bow to a lady

and I remove my false teeth
before I kiss her hand

if she screams
she is no lady

 

 

OPERA

such a great opera
Don José killed Carmen
many times

a soprano in a cold shower
is she singing
or screaming?

everyone is going to an opera
I am going to a funeral
everyone will be moved and touched
so shall I
everybody will be clapping hands
so shall I

you are allowed to yell
bravo!
in an opera house
because she died singing
but you are not allowed to yell
bravo!
in a funeral home
just because she died singing

when the soprano sings an aria
do not sing along
because
her voice will climb to the high C note
sooner or later
and you can only croak
like a frog

in this silent holy night
three drunkards sing
a song of silent holy night

in an empty theater
the stage is set
for a mute tragedy
of chorus singers
who are mute
on the stage

 

 

AFTER A POEM BY SUCHOON MO

by

Anthony Weir

ONE MAN AND HIS DOG
(for Suchoon Mo)

A man digs
and a dog.

The dog is burying a bone.
The man is digging his grave.

The dog is happy.
The man is not.

The dog is shot.