Untitled Six
Oliver Rice

The Chinese, said Herndon,

At the moment I was thinking,

The Chinese, he said, speak of the four dignities,

I was thinking of a man who keeps a journal,

the four dignities, he said,
walking, standing, sitting, lying,

a journal, I was thinking, in which he never writes,
although he occasionally examines it,

walking, standing, sitting, lying.
These traits, he says, are neither male nor female.

although he occasionally fondles it.

1996 © 2007