The Beat November 2002

“K”, as Kenneth May is affectionately and economically known, has been around for as long as they've been building the Kwangan Bridge. He co-hosts the Poetry Plus+ events at the Monk Jazz Club in Daeyeondong, and he co-edited the anthology Crowded, Comfortable, Cool, & Cohesive, which represents Poetry Plus+'s 1-10. Published hither & tither in the Heartland & Sniperville, this is his first local offering.

3 Times with The Idiot Box

Her nipple was in my mouth
when the trap clamped
on the cat‘s tongue. Tom

& Jerry, & sledgehammers,
while her knee
stabbed my ribs & heart.

Felt like I shouldn‘t be
thinking of other lovers
who knew me better.

The sound was down.
On Discovery, we surfed
the Great Barrier Reef.

I caught a few cameos
of sharks over her
shoulder with the mole.

When the news cut into
a fashion program
dedicated to summer-wear,

to show a skyscraper
burning, I brushed away
her hair. Office workers

teetered on the ledge
with nothing below except
a prayer & spectators.

Good Friday

Maybe it‘s just now, half-past
whatever, 2 dollars
in a wallet wishing it were 4,

home in the apartment
building of crackheads
& transvestites, thinking

about the dirty clothes
where they were flung,
still holding the shape

of the body they gave
character to, right after
a meal with heavy garlic,

before the dishes are washed,
glancing out the screen-less
window as a Bible Thumper

with grouchy eyebrows,
in a purple shirt & penny
loafers, lugs a giant,

wooden cross, reclining
on his shoulder, down
the spotless sidewalk

& how it has little metal
wheels so the burden doesn‘t
make him sweat too much.

* Poetry Plus+16 is on November 23rd at Monk Jazz Club in Daeyeondong. See page 15 for the lowdown.