Closure
[a chinese painting]



This is the heaven of your destruction.

Cranes surrounded by palm trees on either side.

The Gulf of Mexico lies between us.

Across the country, asphalt roads break into dirt.
                                                 _ 
Once we could have curled through the skies as luongs.


Your feet are immersed to the tarsus in the Everglades; you

sought eternal life, but you seek on a vulture's peak.

The depth of the Pacific came close to drowning.

Claws of a woman-once-fox are imbedded in your chest.

A peony wilts.


This heart is a bare orchard, that once dropped peaches.



--jennifer crystal chien

crane: longevity. also, a messenger of the immortals, known to show interest in human affairs.
    _
luong (phoenetic spelling of what is commonly butchered as 'lung'): air dragon. master of the air. a changing nature, symbolizing life.

Vulture Peak: a mountain on which a disciple of buddha was interrupted while meditating, by an evil one in the form of a vulture.

fox: crafty creature able to take human form. known to cause mischief, especially in love affairs.

peony: greatest of all flowers, representing love and good fortune.

peach: immortality. often held by the god of immortality. also, marriage.

extra. Closure, based on "close": to bring to an end (by not continuing).