XXIV.on a rough crossing of Lake BaikalI am inside a water dropleton the glass of my actual ferryfollowing in its saltwater course itsodddistorted horizonon a rough crossing of Lake BaikalI can’t wait to tell you simpler thingshow the wind is gone round to the Eastbringing cooler air anda

XXIII.the extreme poverty of Moerewaa poverty that not povertycontrasts with a smellnot te ika the eel tuna not thatneither a full range of offalsand associated productsincluding foetal blood not the smell ofthe freezing worksthe fronted up houses the shops boardednor the café boarded where stones on every tablefresh smoked

XXII.what did you say to herI was wrongenormous ladies of the morningreverse the trend of fat young menthe ad reads sex for life appears often often appears on a facing page appears to mean sex for life for not against a struggle struggle not effaced sex for life for

XXI.nothing white flower in autumn half a year amounts to nothingnothing bursts half a year on the cactus flower what are these nothingnothing good riddance that cactus why do you ask nothingnothing if you ask me what are these dreams amount to nothingnothing good riddance white flower in autumn

I was seated in a clean, high-tech restaurant very different from Saigon, the Vietnamese restaurant two floors beneath my loft on Grand Street. … Bare white walls instead of painted palm fronds, pink linen tablecloths with laundry creases. The waiter handed me a long stiff folded white menu printed with the