porcelain yin

they are watchin, watchin with big
eyes they love the obit. who survives whom.
the dead don't walk on the stage anymore
they swell in the mannequin's skin,
brushed red velvet for vein, aorta, ventricle.

on the phone one animal. on the chat a second.
the whirlwind approacheth, an email from an unknown
source. a camel moving toward a needled eye.

let us depart now for central egypt
on a leather hassock. if we put it between us
on the floor, we can rest our feet there
on the way to babylon and beyond.

the tea ceremony depends on pouring
with a steady hand, the cup is the color
of jade. it rings as it's struck
by the stir of the spoon, adding sweet.