a tanka is homer in little india

by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé

darshan is a height
tall yards of hundreds of feet
and a horizontal beam

its cross-section of blue light
dance floor a thousand feet more
from the dark water

darshan is largess
urbanity, thumping beat
to the long way home

esplanade an inch of grass
from adelbert bay

of their shophouse permissions
more valuations, darshan

seeing of darshan
the gods in everything

overrun vague thing after
feral thing after more of
the wild land of lamps

From: 
Subliminal Interiors




Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé's picture

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