by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé
butter in a jam jar ajar like a door knob still shiny maple over butter over buttermilk waffles brown as burnished gold not so yellow not so buttery an effect buttering up milkman postman both trucks stuck in mud ugly mud on face on arms neck knees legs butcher boots
but butter is grace is utterance is warm fire mother’s warm hands but for dad in a bunker
big summer bumper crop of honeycomb and languor like a bath lathering
ice cream in mouth in open chuckle but take the memory in float down
but button down the soapy memory she said button down the blue house and luggage walks and good fairground fun because the times are slipping down on knees like the old warring years
but for the buckeye butterflies over marigold flutter flutter aflutter
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé has edited more than ten books and co-produced three audio books. The titles span the genres of ethnography, journalism, creative nonfiction, and poetry, several edited pro bono for non-profit organizations including Sok Sabay Cambodia, Riding for the Disabled Association, and the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. Previously an entertainment and lifestyle journalist, Desmond has traveled to Australia, France, Hong Kong and Spain for his stories, culminating in the authorship of the limited edition Top Ten TCS Stars for Caldecott Publishing. Trained in book publishing at Stanford University, with a theology masters (world religions) from Harvard University and fine arts masters (creative writing) from the University of Notre Dame, he is the recipient of the Hiew Siew Nam Academic Award, and Singapore Internationale Grant, with his poetry and fiction appearing in nine chapbooks, various anthologies, and over 140 literary journals. An interdisciplinary artist, Desmond also works in clay, his ceramic works housed in museums and private collections in India, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.
Last updated May 31, 2011