I’m a dinosaur!
I’m a dinosaur too!
I’m going to eat your head!
Don’t eat my head!
Eat his head!
They looked at me.
“What did I do?”
You are a Monster!
Daddy is a Monster!
Let’s eat his head!
䷀䷫
hidden dragon
unmasked
little dragons
give chase
-
Four little T-Rex chicken arms flailed around the lunch table.
-
The turbulent Lego Sea gradually receded into a matte pink box.
The boy diligently cleared his playmat,
Long after sister and momma went upstairs.
He never cleans up.
What happened?
Momma had announced
Everything on that mat is going into the garage!
As she told me the story, he piped up.
我的耳朵没有瞎! (My ears aren’t blind!)䷗
wax and wane
eleven days
benefits -
pitter-patter, pitter-patter, THUMP!
What happened?
我喜欢打屁股.WHAT?!
我喜欢打屁股!
(I like to hit my butt!)
He did not escape mom’s angry lecture.
Don’t play on the stairs!䷒䷊
a lapdog no profit
a chicken no blame
beware shifty stairs -
They watched our neighbor install an inflatable Santa Jack Skellington pulled by Bonedeer led by Zero onto the roof of their garage.
He drew an oblong circle,
Added a couple eyes
And a toothy grin.
我画了一个 skeleton face.
(I drew a “skeleton face”)“Huh?”
He pointed at the chalk drawing on the wall.
我画了一个 skeleton face!
“你说那个是骷髅头?”
(Are you saying that is a skeleton head?)
对!
(Correct!)
“英文叫 skull.”
(In English, that’s a skull.)
我画了一个 skull.
He beamed a toothy grin.䷱䷆
a scorpion broke
off the tripod leg
bronze green canine -
Mama was not amused that we indulged his conflation of “tofu” with “potato” to create a little lunch ditty.
Tofu 豆腐 Dòufu
Potato 土豆 Tǔdòu
Potato (Pəˈtādō)
Tomato (Təˈmādō)Dòufu
Tǔdòu!
Pəˈtādō
Təˈmādō!Dòufu
Tǔdòu!
Pəˈtādō
Təˈmādō!䷙䷈
dou — dou — dō — dō!
-
Sister disappeared into the kitchen closet while [Redacted] was washing his hands.
Are you in the Dawg Place?
No, I’m in the Pantry Place!
That’s the Dawg Place!
It’s called: the Pantry Place.
哪个狗地方在哪里? (Where is this dog place?)No, it’s the Dark Place!
䷤䷁
straight square coffer
filly canine nocturne -
The long plastic sinew metamorphosed into a chain, a sill, and a header.
They grabbed the red jump rope,
Dragged each other across the tile floor.
She had us pull it taut,
Leapt over it, head first towards the corner of our dining table.
We held it high,
Limbo’ed underneath the glossy line.
Ohh! My back!䷥䷐
the hog bear the paint
a car carrying ghosts
hamster on a clavichord -
The dinner jousted over the undulating dearth and glut of technology.
They took the iPad during our zoom call,
And hid under a pair of blankets,
To squirm, laugh, giggle, squawk, fidget, and squeal.
They insisted I join the call on my iPhone,
To transmit this fuzzy, pulsing grey blob to the family.
“At your age, grandpa got our first video camera, much less eight.”䷻
She wants her own phone, like her friends.
“You don’t need a phone, just use my my number.”
“When I was a boy, we only had one phone in the whole house.”
“Mommy shared a phone at the apartment headquarters.”
“How come you old people always talk about the past?”䷼
bitter festival
pigs and fishes
an ocean of bits
wooden boat -
The desert dreamt water in every corner.
The backyard became the ocean.
The rocks were the water.
The patio was a boat.
The boat had a Sea Shop.
The Sea Shop sold snorkels, seaweed, sugar, salt, oil, and fish.
We fished,
We swam,
We snorkeled,
I sharked,
but couldn’t catch anyone.䷮
press the water beneath the lake
a spectral aquarium floats on the sand
-
The third person was in the air, so the boy became his own character.
He ride a bike on the trail.
On a slight incline, I tap him on the back.
“加油!” (press on!)
He pedals for thirty yards before slowing down.
My mom chats while we watch them.
I try a pull-up at the play structure.
One here; one there; shift my grip for one more.
A jolt shoots through my right bicep.
A net connects two platforms, she grabs a railing and crosses the divide.
He stands on one side.
“勇敢, 我在看着你” (be brave, I’m watching you)
“不是! Silver Star 不要走过 wires!” (nope! Silver Star doesn’t walk on wires!)䷗
thunder in the ground
the first king went to seclusion
in seven days Silver Star rose from the west