harbourcentre5Mar 17, 20221 min readJourney to Xishuangbanna by James X. WangJourney to Xishuangbannathe old country stashes swamps in the far southwestbreezes are claggy, sweetly miasmicjungle sweat drags out the dawnsallow orb: flicker ona cacophony of shrieks and chitterspedestrians crack peanuts at the roadsidedancing speckles cast in the understoryleafcutter ants on a mission for the holy sevenfirewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, teafodder for sex, sorcery and seasonshumvees bound for Rangoon steamroll throughblack market betel and china whitea propaganda partythey brave the Mekong on braided raftswhile fisher girls leap in and out of catfish formstalks protrude from the marsh at nightthirty stories tall and turgidcarved-out condos in the purple landscapeiridescent windows, polka-dotted eelsthey reel me into the deepwhen summer monsoons bathe my skindevour sinew, then bonethe city submerges its namereturns me to primordiumuntil time to congeal again - previously published in Arc (95, Summer 2021)
Journey to Xishuangbannathe old country stashes swamps in the far southwestbreezes are claggy, sweetly miasmicjungle sweat drags out the dawnsallow orb: flicker ona cacophony of shrieks and chitterspedestrians crack peanuts at the roadsidedancing speckles cast in the understoryleafcutter ants on a mission for the holy sevenfirewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, teafodder for sex, sorcery and seasonshumvees bound for Rangoon steamroll throughblack market betel and china whitea propaganda partythey brave the Mekong on braided raftswhile fisher girls leap in and out of catfish formstalks protrude from the marsh at nightthirty stories tall and turgidcarved-out condos in the purple landscapeiridescent windows, polka-dotted eelsthey reel me into the deepwhen summer monsoons bathe my skindevour sinew, then bonethe city submerges its namereturns me to primordiumuntil time to congeal again - previously published in Arc (95, Summer 2021)
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