The Strategy of Youth by Desmond Kon Jiangláng-Caijin

[rules governing conduct of tunnel travel]

section 3725.01 issuance of permit
there is a saying: I was young and now I am old

section 3725.02 priority seating
enoch has interjected as if to punctuate how he was missed;
someone whispers sayings into a square meal

I hear another venture in prayer for mercy
this time slipping on all fours
the saying that there’s something afoot this evening
as if a hunt readies itself

(a) there, there a chariot lodges deep in the river;
(b) we revisit plane mirrors, our desire winding garbled
(c) where do gardens grow crackers like nuts?

section 3725.03 vandalism and defacement
four sages and ten utterances wheel restless
overturned in minds ringing arms around such subjects

section 3725.04 prescribed tolls
I should be so good…. offerings, tabled grace

section 3725.05 compliance with posted signs
therein a saying:
where in the garden does god take a man for his walks?

section 3725.06 passenger identification
there are sinners and there are heretics

(a) or so they say;
(b) so do they work in groups or do they stand alone?
(c) what repentance avails us all, our laving grindstone?

section 3725.07 official seal and control devices
what defines how we create, and thereby our creatureliness?

section 3725.08 private crossings
but someone says sound the bugle now
someone needs to chart the rutting, power in counterblows

(a) in the know, doubt or belief, full stops;
(b) a year of lifetime passes
(c) the suns bask, many moons to make time
(d) turn tables, time after time to the letter

section 3725.09 abandoned vehicles
will I end up another vessel, accomplice to failed missions?

section 3725.10 systems and equipment prohibition
odeberg can’t seat himself conjoined with his past
his whiplash no accident as scholem belts a song

young and strong, a lick of letters chop chop

section 3725.11 enforcement
a nut cracks open, shells itself

section 3725.12 firearms and other weapons
the creatures are moving with the wheels;
are they dancing spaceships sparking up and down
round and round, how fire works sounding rockets?

then they fly, my ears flood with every sense of the word
and I see wings; then silence as sudden as science

(a) is that a love agape, zephyr in the air?
(b) is that what I feel?
(c) or is this the smell of fresh kill?

section 3725.13 unauthorised interference
it’s dark, no windows in this room but it is night;
elijah sits by doors eavesdropping on mothers’ petitions

I shine my shoes penitent; I hum my hymn to him

maybe I’ll hatch aeriform, myself some angel food
antimony caking, yoking; and make a meal

of another feeling, that impounding railed in?

(a) what happens after the biting?
(b) what happens with the hand that feeds?
(c) what happens to the never?

section 3725.14 signal of approach
handle and open with care; avoid shock and friction
wear suitable protective gear, depth charges
recommended for interior use on large surface matters

just to be safe, tonight tears up
perspex sayings
always tier upon tier dead meat

horses running into hundreds, panettone thick

Click here to read an annotated version of this poem


		Desmond Kon Jiangláng-Caijin
		the strategy of youth
		[rules governing conduct of tunnel travel] section 3725.01 issuance of permit there is a saying: I was young and now I am old section 3725.02 priority seating enoch has interjected as if to punctuate how he was missed; someone whispers sayings into a square meal I hear another venture in prayer for mercy this time slipping on all fours the saying that there’s something afoot this evening as if a hunt readies itself (a) there, there a chariot lodges deep in the river; (b) we revisit plane mirrors, our desire winding garbled (c) where do gardens grow crackers like nuts? section 3725.03 vandalism and defacement four sages and ten utterances wheel restless overturned in minds ringing arms around such subjects section 3725.04 prescribed tolls I should be so good…. offerings, tabled grace section 3725.05 compliance with posted signs therein a saying: where in the garden does god take a man for his walks? section 3725.06 passenger identification there are sinners and there are heretics (a) or so they say; (b) so do they work in groups or do they stand alone? (c) what repentance avails us all, our laving grindstone? section 3725.07 official seal and control devices what defines how we create, and thereby our creatureliness? section 3725.08 private crossings but someone says sound the bugle now someone needs to chart the rutting, power in counterblows (a) in the know, doubt or belief, full stops; (b) a year of lifetime passes (c) the suns bask, many moons to make time (d) turn tables, time after time to the letter section 3725.09 abandoned vehicles will I end up another vessel, accomplice to failed missions? section 3725.10 systems and equipment prohibition odeberg can’t seat himself conjoined with his past his whiplash no accident as scholem belts a song young and strong, a lick of letters chop chop section 3725.11 enforcement a nut cracks open, shells itself section 3725.12 firearms and other weapons the creatures are moving with the wheels; are they dancing spaceships sparking up and down round and round, how fire works sounding rockets? then they fly, my ears flood with every sense of the word and I see wings; then silence as sudden as science (a) is that a love agape, zephyr in the air? (b) is that what I feel? (c) or is this the smell of fresh kill? section 3725.13 unauthorised interference it’s dark, no windows in this room but it is night; elijah sits by doors eavesdropping on mothers’ petitions I shine my shoes penitent; I hum my hymn to him maybe I’ll hatch aeriform, myself some angel food antimony caking, yoking; and make a meal of another feeling, that impounding railed in? (a) what happens after the biting? (b) what happens with the hand that feeds? (c) what happens to the never? section 3725.14 signal of approach handle and open with care; avoid shock and friction wear suitable protective gear, depth charges recommended for interior use on large surface matters just to be safe, tonight tears up perspex sayings always tier upon tier dead meat horses running into hundreds, panettone thick Click here to read an annotated version of this poem
		His own life a Commedia dell’arte, Desmond Kon Jiangláng-Caijin vacillates between attempting dead-pan Eliotic gravitas and a post-meta-ante-Commedia erudita. He has edited more than ten books and co-produced three audio books, with writing published and forthcoming in Blackbird, Copper Nickel, Diagram, Gulf Coast, Pank, and Versal. Having just sculpted ceramic artpieces to commemorate Yehuda Amichai’s 10th Anniversary and Walter Benjamin’s 70th Anniversary in 2010, Desmond is presently working on the pot-as-neopoem, inspired by the worldview of the last gnostics, the Mandaeans. The piece is titled “∃ Mana: Markabta(Mana)” where “mana” and “markabta” translate as “receptacle” and “celestial chariot” respectively. This s=y=m=b=l=i=n=g=u=a sonnet has its fourteen sections and accompanying annotations deleted in a later chapter within Desmond’s book manuscript of hybrid forms, and rewritten as fourteen lines of “love, not war”. Desmond is a pacifist.
		© Desmond Kon Jiangláng-Caijin All Rights Reserved