Poem

The Provider

(in Cascadia Mono font) – by koon woon

I. The Provider

Zap! The Provider did the dining table.

Ham & yams appear, so do cider and toast,

Three-flavored meat, garden-colored veggies,

and ice cream.

A bug falls in the attic –

CIA surveillance.

No matter. Mind your mind.

The Provider unfolds the newspaper.

There arise buildings and bridges.

In the advertisement section,

another client is sold a bill of goods.

Times like these the rain is incessant.

Twenty years ago, a house grazes on the hill,

short pines, daffodils,

statistically very sound.

A cold stream nearby holds small trout.

Water metaphors into banks and credit,

where cash is preferred over a lien.

Times like these the rain is incessant.

In the nearby sand a spider crawls onto

a sand castle. Windows are blank of meaning.

As the sun rays fall and splinter on driftwood,

undulant, undulant the tide rolls in.

Times like these the rain is incessant.

II. Dreamscape

Drip, drip the colorless liquid,

blood-red is the sea,

sun sunken into water,

children descend.

At times such as these the rain is incessant.

Let go of the rope,

the tiny hope of a sparrow’s chirp;

man’s gun finds war,

as water ebbs unregulated to sea.

At times such as these words are redundant.

The phantom moves beneath the sea,

darkness falls in Tangiers,

a man cracks a coconut,

this is how the brain is tapped.

At times the streets are empty,

Other times they exhibit clowns.

As the children sip sodas,

the sun drops at the edge of sea.

III. The Visit

“You should feel as good as possible,” said the psychiatrist. But each visit exceeds my assets.

Fire moving down the mountain as the identity matrix.

“We hear the student had a long grudge against the prof.”

More words lead to redundancy like cascading water

in a fountain in Spain.

Do not move against the river.

Do not descend if not having ascended.

At times like these the rain is incessant.

The man drops another dime in the meter

so as to induce the shrink to open his golden mouth.

The undertaker heaves a formaldehyde breath.

Incessantly the rain come down without mercy.

Times such as these words are redundant.

Times like these the rain is incessant.

I suppose this will go on even if unrecorded.

But see me again when I am hungry!.

(more to follow)

April 17, 2025 in Seattle