Poems by Mark Young

 

A line from Tanizaki Jun’ichiro

The tent is pitched in the
middle of a courtyard, sym-
metrically placed. Numerical
values are provided. So, too,

an artificially illuminated
rainbow. Toss chunks of
super-cold dry ice around—
wood storks love them—& the

subsequent pattern of shadows
is counted using modular tallies
of prime numbers. Measures of rice
appear as unique combinations.

 

---

 

Three geographies
 
Donnybrook-Balingup

Backgammon is not
a completely ergodic
game which is why
mice do not play it.

They prefer teaching
risk management &
brinksmanship to the
rats in our building.

 

---

 

Richmond, Va

The Super Bowl is often seen as
a means to measure physiological
responses to the historic Tredegar
Ironworks. It's a very narrow

definition, deliberately so, to
prevent Irish-Americans scalpers
from selling high-price tickets
to the American Civil War.

 

---

 

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

                          High-foaming performance
                            milk was around long
                     before coffee first
                                          arrived on the European
                                    continent. Any bland dish
                                         needs such information
                           to beat off growing
                                           competition from slot
                                    machines & casinos. I
                         hear good ideas all the
                                         time. Big flowers always
                    look better in reproduction.

 

---

 

Coming late to the Buddhist Markets

The mantras
all gone;
but she found

a nice little
sand
mandala, only

slightly 
wind-
blown, that 

she managed
to pick up
for a chant.