Endymion
START OF TEXT. CRUISE OF FOOLS. ACKNOWLEDGE
CHARACTER. OFFBEAT SITES. START OF HEADING. ONE
HAUNTED COURSE. START OF PROTECTED AREA.
FIVE LAKES. FOUR SEAS. END OF PROTECTED AREA.
MY GRAVE. SYNCHRONOUS IDLE. NO BREAK
HERE. BAMBOO HARDENS. NEXT LINE. PORTHOLE MOON.
SINGLE SHIFT. EMPTY BERTH. MESSAGE WAITING.
DID I DREAM OF YOUR DESIRE LAST NIGHT?
SHIFT IN. IMPERIAL GHOST SHIP. GLIDED VIDEO. SHIFT
OUT. SINGLE BOY. OSSIFIED. START OF SELECTED AREA.
GROTTO COURT. PRIVATE USE. DRAGON KING’S WIFE.
DEVICE CONTROL. PHOTOGRAPH. INERT FINLESS
PORPOISES. FORM FEED. BELLIED UP. END OF
TRANSMISSION BLOCK. AMPUTATED RUBBER. ESCAPE
CHARACTER. SNOW CRANES TANGO. HORIZONTAL TAB.
GLORIOUSLY ROSY. SEPTIC KNOTWEED. DATA LINK
ESCAPE. MESSAGE WAITING. WAS THAT SHADOW
ON THE DYING LAKEBED EIGHT VIEWS OF YOUR BODY?
START OF STRING. LAST WILD GEESE. DESCENDING
SAND. RAIN ON THE LAKE. TEMPLE BELL. DIRTIED
SNOW. MIST THAT CLEARS. A VILLAGE ALIGHT.
OUR OWN OLD MOON IN AUTUMN. LONE SAIL.
HOMEWARDS BOUND. ESCAPE CHARACTER. SEEING
OUT. END OF SELECTED AREA. MY MEMORIES OF THOSE
INERT EVENINGS FEEL CELESTIAL. PARTIAL LINE
BACKWARD. TWO CLANGS. PRIVATE USE. A PAVILION
GONG. SHIFT IN. A THING OF JOY FOREVER. SHIFT OUT.
THEN ANOTHER. SET TRANSMIT STATE. A PASSAGE OVER
INTO NOTHINGNESS. NEXT LINE. SHAPELESS.
NULL CHARACTER. PROBABLY. END OF TRANSMISSION.
EMPTIED. BACKSPACE. EMPTIED. ENQUIRY CHARACTER.
AND DRAINED OF ALL RESOURCES TO SUSTAIN LAKE LIFE.
The Judgement
Whatever it takes to survive successfully, to persevere
at your cellular expense,
I will do it.
________
Jay Gao is a Chinese Scottish poet, editor, and the author of Imperium (2022), forthcoming from Carcanet Press, as well as the poetry pamphlets: TRAVESTY58 (2022), Katabasis (2020), and Wedding Beasts (2019). He is a Contributing Editor for The White Review. He is studying for an MFA at Brown University, and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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