Their Cultures of Roots and Molds

…Pahn is lying in bed

with Ahstrild

He is comfortable    in the soft mattress

                                                 and white sheets 

 

He looks up adoringly                                             

at her round    full face    as she sits up playfully

                                                          leaning over him

                                   the covers sloughing off her back 

He wants to be nude with her                                    

and to pull her over his body

                                             like a blanket 

She is amenable                                

but gets up to do something first 

He takes his shirt off                                               

but she wanders out of the room

He thinks for a moment                                          

about her mother                               

                       who may be somewhere about the house 

He gets out of bed    and follows Ahstrild

                                                             into other rooms

while she attends to her tasks

 

                                                           After a while

she shows him the case in the hall   

where

beneath the glass and screen                                 

  there are stones                                                                     

     and small logs                                                                   

lying in earth                                                                        

or pans of water—                                                              

 

thin white filaments                          

creep up the edges of some

fleshy       

 patches                  

lie on others                                   

and some are like fine              

        fur                                        

                       

The molds are hers     she says   

the roots 

                                                         belong to her sister

Opportuniy

…Djuturna looks out

                                                            past Pahn

from the shaded      stucco                                                 

balcony niche      where                          

they stand close

facing each other              She is

leaning over his shoulder—   

                                    to see?   

                                         To hear?

 

And when

she turns her head  back

to face Pahn again        her lips

            within easy reach         Pahn

            tilts forward just enough

                                  to touch                        thinking  

‘It will seem appropriate

                                           now’

 

She       hesitates briefly                                      

as he catches her mouth

 

                       and lifts

           her lips in his   

A moment of bliss 

                                    and then  

he begins to wonder            

how to             

gracefully end                                      

this kiss

His Contribution to the Party

Pahn has been to a store    where

he has bought something in a bag    to bring

to a gathering of his coworkers

…At the nighttime gathering    he stands   

                                                            and walks

by bales of hay    near large                                                

                        barn-like buildings      turns   

                        nodding   

listening                             

He hears                                                          

Mahreekah talking into her cell-phone     

leaving a message for her daughter    Michaela—

something about depression   

                                                sarcastic  

 self-deprecating   

cheerfully said…                                                             

 …Pahn weaves                                    

briefly                           through a small crowd

consisting of mostly

            very short women

(some he knows   some he doesn’t)

                       

      He finds himself on his knees    and yet                                                

is still taller    than some of them  

  One woman is only                                                                 

            about 2½ feet tall                                                                  

He imagines

that she has never really grown since childhood… 

 …He is ready to give his contribution    but sees

that he has bought bird-seed

                                                by mistake

what did he think he was buying?

 Candy?      Trail-mix?

  He sits on dusty bales    and wonders

why he comes to these parties       He feels

out of place  

and incapable of enjoying himself  

depressed…  

…He is in the building

going down a corridor  

and looks into

one of the rooms

      which he sees is full of children                                   

He senses disapproval    and feels                                    

that he should not be there  

He looks into another room    and sees

    the anticipated band                                                          

playing the Moody Blues’                                                     

                                                    

Tuesday Afternoon                                                    

on strange                                                       

large                                                        

golden instruments                                                        

     (as if they are animated)                                            

                                        

But he doesn’t go in—

he listens from outside…

"Solo Yo"

…the bed is pushed up against the wall     Aiks lies

naked with Pahn        She leans

over him      He holds her       She

teases him    with her vagina   

then backs away

again

                         again 

Pahn    is not quite relaxed    because

the door is open       He can

hear Eeunks across the hall    moving around

                                                                        in her room      

He gets up to close the door    but finds

the door is not solid    and is too small

                                                         for its opening 

When he returns   

Aiks is gone    and in her place

is a short    stocky    Mexican woman    with a square 

           comely face    and straight hair

Pahn holds her the same as Aiks                                

                   They lie

on the floor together    in their clothes  

                                                      kissing    caressing

  

Soon Ku comes into the room    and                        

orders the woman out

taking her place

lying aggressively on Pahn

saying                                                       

 “Nadie                         

debe hacer esto

contigo”

     then smiling and adding                          

                             “Solo yo”        

As is a Projection

Djuturna has gone to oversee

the tractor and Pahn

stands nearby

     in a space that is                                          

a room                                                  

       a car

              a clearing at the edge                               

    of a murky wood                              

from whence comes Freega

smudged

          and humid                                                          

embracing and kissing him  

In the dusk    Pahn                            

is softened by her touch    but

     lets her slough from him                                            

worrying

that Djuturna will see them

and be jealous…

 …later

he looks up

and sees

unnatural patterns of light

         forming in a plane in the sky   

as if a projection

                                inexplicable

Zhoonév in Voile

.

…Zhoonév walks naked.................................

to the curtain

winding the fabric............

........about her…she is

in Pahn’s arms ... leaning

her thin body into him ...her forehead and

black hair on his shoulder

her back arched as he caresses

her contours

through the voile

contentment........................................

relaxation

.

peace and love we would say

.

…Pahn hears Aiks in the hall he whispers

apprehensively

to Zhoonév

“I don’t want my wife to see us”

He shivers and detaches.........................

Apologetically

.

Zhoonév fades away…...........................................

…Theya stands surprisingly tall

in the old house ... looking

down into Pahn’s eyes ...smiling

asking

if he has ever seen the “smoke system”

She explains

that it was a way to easily pump

marijuana smoke

into the living room

She turns to the wall ...to pull a lever

and smoke

begins immediately ...to pour

from holes

in the bricks ...above the fireplace

Phaithohn laughs commentary.......................

Eeunks comments casually ...from..................

across the room

where she sits on the floor................

drawing…

.

…Pahn walks again with Zhoonév............................

into the bedroom

He shows her the boots

They are tall shiny

supple

thin

He knows they are meant for snow

but they are not lined

He thinks to himself

.

“It doesn’t really matter that they are not lined—one can

wear thick socks”

.

Zhoonév wanders about the room

and disappears

into a

corner…

.